A former trainee teacher accused of sexually abusing a student allegedly groomed the boy by buying him "whatever [he] wanted" and requesting explicit photos, a court has heard.
"We always said, if we see anyone we know, just keep walking," the alleged victim told police about what has been described as a "romantic relationship".
"We didn't want anyone to see."
While the woman denies several accusations of criminal conduct, she also claims some sexualised behaviour was done under the "reasonable belief" the boy was 16 years old.
He was in fact 15 and, by law, unable to consent.
The alleged abuser, Canberra schools involved in the case, alleged victim and child witnesses cannot be named because of suppression orders.
The former student teacher is fighting numerous charges, including persistent sexual abuse of a child, in an ACT Supreme Court trial which began this week.
She is now aged in her late 20s and her current employment is not known.
The woman has also denied two counts each of grooming and committing an act of indecency on a child, and single counts of making pornographic material available, and supplying cannabis, to a young person.
Meeting at school
On Tuesday, prosecutor Emilija Beljic laid out the alleged case revolving around a sexual and romantic "relationship" cultivated by the woman between November 2020, when the boy was 15, and October 2021, when he turned 16.
Jurors heard the pair met when the woman was 24 and worked as a pre-service teacher at the boy's school for three weeks during her university studies.
The accused woman, working under the guidance of a qualified teacher, was not teaching the boy's grade nine class.
However, the court heard they started hanging out at lunchtime and recess, and the time they spent together "was noticed by other teachers".
"Prac teachers aren't supposed to spend one-on-one time with students and are not meant to be alone with students," the prosecutor said in her opening address.
'Everyone was talking about it'
The boy gave evidence he flirted with the woman and began visiting her classes because "she was a younger teacher at the school, all the boys at that age were just trying to talk to her".
When he reached out on social media after she had left the school, the pair started messaging regularly despite the woman telling him she would "get in trouble if I talk to you on social media".
The court heard they became closer and began regularly hanging out. They were eventually "together, like a couple", the boy said.
Ms Beljic said the woman drove the boy to and from school, gave him money, supplied him with cannabis and alcohol, and bought him gifts like designer clothes, vapes, Uber rides and movie tickets.
"She was kind of, did what I asked if I asked nice enough," the alleged victim said in court on Tuesday.
Jurors were told, after the boy's "persistent requests" and on the proviso he would keep them to himself, she also sent him numerous explicit videos and photos.
"I used to tell my mates I was talking to her and I used to show them videos," the boy, now 18, said in his police interview.
"That's why everyone was talking about it at all the schools."
The woman allegedly asked for him to send explicit videos back but the boy claims he never did beyond shirtless photos.
The former teaching student is also accused of indecently assaulting the boy on two occasions, once in a car after she picked him up from a party and another time in a David Jones dressing room.
'That provides her a defence'
In his opening address, defence barrister Sam Pararajasingham said many aspects of the case were not in dispute.
That included the significant contact between the woman and the student in 2021, that the pair hung out publicly "from time to time", and that she sent him small amounts of money and bought him gifts.
Mr Pararajasingham also said it was conceded his client sent "revealing images or videos of herself" but that she believed the boy was 16 years old when she did so.
"That provides her a defence," the barrister said.
Explaining he believed it made him seem cooler, the boy told police: "I always said I was a year older."
The teenager also admitted lying to friends by telling them the pair had sex, "just to say that I'd done it with a teacher".
"Back then it was just a cool thing to say to your mates," he told police.
Jurors also heard the woman denied engaging in any sexual act with the teenager, engaging in conduct with the intention to make it more likely he would engage in sexual acts, and supplying him with cannabis.
Mr Pararajasingham said on the alleged victim's own account, the boy lied to people and was motivated to impress those around him.
"He overstated, exaggerated the nature of the relationship," the barrister said.
The trial continues.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 6247 2525; Bravehearts 1800 272 831; Blue Knot Foundation 1300 657 380.
