Justice, gender: let the facts guide the lawThe AgeMay 9, 2005EditorialThe jailing of Karen Ellis highlights the problems the courts face in dealing with certain sex offences.
The decision of the Court of Appeal to jail a Victorian schoolteacher who became involved in a sexual relationship with a student in her care highlights the difficulty the law faces in dealing with such cases. At the time of the offences, Karen Louise Ellis was aged 36 and married with three young children. She worked as a physical education teacher at the school of the victim, a 15-year-old student in year 10. They engaged in sexual relations on at least six occasions over a six-week period, Ellis taking him to her home for sex when her husband was absent. The court heard that the sex was consensual. In a statement, the victim indicated that he took the initiative on each occasion, that he knew what he was doing and wanted to do it. But, the appeal court noted, Ellis was in a position of authority and should have taken steps and had strategies in place to prevent this relationship.
Karen Ellis was clearly foolish, and irresponsible. She wantonly breached the trust placed in her by the community in her role as a teacher. What the victim believed was appropriate carries little weight. The law presumes a 15-year-old incapable of making the sort of moral and ethical decisions involved in embarking upon a sexual relationship with someone more than twice their age. The rights and wrongs of this case are not at issue. Ellis pleaded guilty, expressed remorse and is considered by the courts as unlikely to re-offend. The appeal court went so far as to note that she "is not a predator in the ordinary sense of that word".
The question of appropriate punishment was the issue facing the appeal court. Ellis was initially sentenced in the County Court to 22 months' imprisonment, wholly suspended. The appeal court overturned this, concluding it was "manifestly inadequate". Instead, it imposed a sentence of two years and eight months, with six months to be served in prison. In so doing, the court was mindful of the need for "general deterrence, just punishment and denunciation of her conduct". It also considered the need for equality before the law, regardless of whether an offender is male or female. The Age believes that the court, in this case, has overcompensated in seeking to satisfy the need for gender equality before the law. Ellis' actions were not comparable, for example, to those of tennis coach Gavin Maxwell Hopper, who seduced a 14-year-old female student and was last year convicted on similar offences. Despite the evidence, Hopper denied the sexual liaison and showed no remorse. His victim was deeply scarred by the experience. Hopper was rightly jailed.
Ellis will be punished in myriad ways. Apart from the impact on her family, the convictions end her teaching career. As a convicted sex offender she will be barred from many community activities and bear that stigma for life. The custodial sentence may satisfy the desire of some within the community for retribution, but it is unlikely to have any reformatory effect upon the offender and is probably not in the interests of the victim or his family.
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