May 24th 2024.
A woman by the name of Gaye Grant, who was once a teacher in New South Wales, has recently been granted a successful appeal to quash her historical child sex abuse conviction. This ruling marks only the second time in which a person has successfully argued that women cannot be held legally responsible for this crime under the laws that were in place at the time.
Mrs. Grant, now in her late 70s, was sentenced to jail in December of 2022 after pleading guilty to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child. However, after serving almost 15 months behind bars, she was released on bail and given the opportunity to appeal her conviction in March. This decision came following the release of another former teacher, Helga Lam, who had her historical sex abuse charges dismissed in February.
In a groundbreaking ruling, the allegations against Ms. Lam were thrown out after it was determined that women could not be legally held accountable for abusing boys under the previous laws, which only applied to male offenders. And now, in a similar fashion, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld Mrs. Grant's appeal and overturned her conviction.
The ex-teacher's legal team had argued that there was a legal precedent for appealing a conviction even after pleading guilty, if the appellant could not be held legally responsible for the crime. And their efforts have paid off, as Mrs. Grant's District Court conviction has now been voided, effectively lifting her six-year jail sentence that was set to expire in September of 2029.
For those in need of support, assistance can be found by contacting 1800 RESPECT at 1800 737 732, or the National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service at 1800 211 028.
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