At 13 years old, most boys are navigating the start of high school; instead, a West Australian teenager is now navigating the reality of fatherhood and a lifetime of trauma.
As Naomi Craig, a teacher at his former school, awaits sentencing on 15 charges of sexual abuse, the community is left grappling with how a 16-month campaign of predatory behaviour could result in a child fathering a baby.
Craig, 33, was arrested last month by child abuse detectives and accused of “persistent sexual conduct with a male youth”.
More charges were later added, including possession of child exploitation material and sexual penetration of a child under 13 years old. She pleaded guilty to all charges at a hearing on Tuesday.
Craig was a music teacher at the private co-ed Frederick Irwin Anglican School in Mandurah and a married mother-of-one.
A school spokesperson said none of the incidents she had pleaded guilty to occurred on school grounds, and no complaints regarding the teacher were received prior to police notifying the school of her arrest in December last year.
The Department of Education has distanced itself from the issue, only commenting that the school was “providing support and information to the school community”.
It isn’t the first time a female teacher has taken advantage of a student, or been jailed for having an illicit relationship with a boy.
A famous and alarmingly similar case took place in the US in the late 1990s, when Vili Fualaau fathered two children to his teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, in a relationship that began when he was 12.
Letourneau bought Vili Fualaau art supplies, took him to museums and encouraged him to develop his talent for poetry at the same time she was sexually abusing him.
In February 1997, Letourneau’s husband found out and notified the authorities. By then she was six months pregnant with Fualaau’s baby.
Teacher-student abuse cases
- Naomi Craig (2026), Age of victim: 12, Sentence – pending (Est. 7–9 years)
- Mary Kay Letourneau, USA, Age of victim: 12 Sentence – 7.5 Years
- EKO (WA 2020), Age of victim: 13 & 17, Sentence – 7.5 Years
- Nicholas Visser (WA 2024), Age of victim: 15, Sentence – 7.5 Years (On Appeal)
- Unnamed Teacher (WA 2015), Age of victim: 14, Sentence: 21 Months (Suspended)
Three months after the baby was born, she pleaded guilty to two counts of child rape and was sentenced to 7½ years in prison, but the sentence was suspended for six months on the condition she have no contact with Fualaau.
Within days of being released from prison she was back in touch with the boy and had her suspended sentence revoked. She became pregnant with their second child while she was on parole.
Now that Craig has pleaded guilty, her case will be fast-tracked to sentencing in WA’s courts, but the question turns to what happens to her baby if she is jailed.
Hammond Legal director John Hammond said Craig could face seven to nine years behind bars when she is sentenced later this year, and her baby is likely to be able to reside with her.
“The baby can stay from age one to four in a minimum-security prison such as Boronia, subject to prison superintendent and prison committee dealing with child’s matters being satisfied of child’s best interests and other parties – e.g. grandparents not having a say or seeking to take over raising of child,” Hammond said.
In WA, there have been some similar cases involving teacher-student abuse, the most recent involving physical education and health teacher Nicholas Visser who was 28 when he first offended against a 15-year-old student in 2019.
He was convicted of 14 offences and handed a jail term of 4½ years, which was last year increased to 7½ years by the Court of Appeal.
Visser’s abuse began when he started sending Snapchat messages to female students which included explicit photos of himself. The abuse continued for nine months.
In 2020, a female teacher known only as “EKO” was charged with 44 sexual offences towards two young girls.
She was also a physical education and health teacher and was 25 years old at the time. Her victims were aged 13 and 17 years old.
The teacher pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 7½ years in prison.
“She was in a position of authority and power as teacher. There was evidence of grooming and manipulative behaviour,” Hammond said.
“The appellant deliberately exploited her position for her own advantage and sexual gratification. This was compounded by the fact that the appellant had offended against not one but two students for whom she was responsible.
“An aggravating factor was that the offending occurred not only between teacher and student, but also on school grounds, in an environment where students ‘ought reasonably to have felt safe’.”
In 2015, another female teacher pleaded guilty to having sex with a 14-year-old boy she taught. Their relationship began when the boy was just 13 years old.
She was given a 21-month prison term, suspended for two years.
In 2018, a private school teacher was jailed for almost five years for sexually abusing two female students aged 15 and 16.
The drama teacher was 35 years old when she pleaded guilty to 33 child sex offences which happened over an 18-month period.
During her sentencing the court heard she developed “deep cognitive distortions” and believed she was in “a personal relationship” with each of them.
The examples that have come before WA’s courts, including Craig’s case, would undoubtedly have parents concerned the school gate was no longer a sufficient boundary for protection in a place their children ought reasonably to have felt safe.
The spotlight must now turn to the gaps in the system where predators operate.
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