A female cleaner at a Tasmanian school who sexually abused a 13-year-old male student over a number of months will spend at least six months in jail.
The 28-year-old woman — who cannot be named for legal reasons — was convicted of persistent sexual abuse of a child or young person, engaging in sexual acts with the child on nine occasions between June and September last year.
In the Supreme Court in Burnie on Thursday, Justice Tamara Jago said the seriousness of the crime required a term of imprisonment.
"These crimes have the potential to cause lifelong physiological harm," she said.
The woman was jailed for two years, but Justice Jago suspended one year of that sentence.
She'll be eligible for parole after serving six months and her name will be placed on the sex offender register for three years after her release.
The court had previously heard the accused woman was friends with the boy's mother, and was seen as an "aunt figure".
Justice Jago said she breached the trust of the family, telling the court the complainant and the accused had sexual intercourse without a condom multiple times.
She said the woman's crimes had been exposed to other young people, including her own son and a friend of the complainant.
The court was previously told on one occasion a 13-year-old friend of the boy witnessed them performing oral sex in a parked car.
In delivering her sentence, Justice Jago said the woman's "difficult upbringing" and "long history of depression" contributed to her behaviour, but only to a limited extent.
Family dismay over sentence
The boy has now changed schools and is getting psychological support for his mental health.
Steve Fisher from Beyond Abuse told reporters outside court the mother of the boy is "absolutely distraught" with the sentence.
"What she [the cleaner] has done to this child has given him a life sentence of psychological injury," he said.
"It's absolutely disgraceful and it's something I believe the Department of Prosecutions should appeal."
He said they were expecting at least a four-year sentence.
"The mother and child now have to pick up the pieces and try and get on with their lives whilst she may well be out in six months time."
