The Victoria Court of Appeal decided Tuesday to let an Australian teacher avoid jail time after admitting to having sex with a teenage student in her car.
Earlier in 2023, the County Court of Victoria sentenced Monique Ooms, 31, to 300 hours of community work by after she pleaded guilty to four counts of sexually penetrating a 16-year-old under her “care or supervision,” according to 9News. The Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence, arguing Ooms deserved a “prison term” for her actions, the outlet reported.
The Victoria Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and found the sentencing judge from the County Court of Victoria did not make an error in giving her the community work order, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Teacher Charged For Having Sex With Student Let Free After They Get Married)
A teacher has again avoided jail time for having sex with a 16-year-old male student after prosecutors failed to overturn her community work order. #9Newshttps://t.co/mYWdBQcWBz
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) September 5, 2023
Psychological reports also found Ooms was in a “fragile mental state around the time of the offending,” according to the Daily Mail.
“The respondent found out that she was infertile, which increased her own vulnerability to irrational thinking to which she was disposed because of a constellation of mental health conditions afflicting her,” the court heard, according to the Daily Mail.
However, in July, it was revealed she had become pregnant the week she was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria, the outlet reported.
Her lawyer, Jason Gullaci, told the Court of Appeal the pregnancy was the most “significant factor” of the latest defense, according to the outlet.
Before walking free, she had faced a penalty of 10 years in jail, the Daily Mail reported.