Another stupid prosecution of a lusty lady

This one in Australia



A WOMAN'S crime in having sex once with a 15-year-old boy was different from the six-week affair Melbourne school teacher Karen Ellis had with a boy of similar age, a court heard. Diana Nicole Bennett's lawyer said that unlike Ellis, the boy with whom she had intercourse was not under her care, supervision or authority.

The County Court heard yesterday that in January 2005, Bennett, a voluntary worker, then 28, had sex with the boy who had telephoned her at home one morning and invited her to his house. Judge Lance Pilgrim was told they had been friends for about six months and that the boy had earlier promised to give her a kiss for Christmas. After the Department of Human Resources notified police from a sexual offences and child abuse unit in February, 2005, the boy declined to make a statement, as did his parents.

Prosecutor Bill Dwyer said in his summary that Bennett later admitted she had a problem with binge drinking and on that morning she was drunk from the night before. Mr Dwyer said Bennett, who usually drank three bottles of vodka neat a week, told police she only took up the boy's invitation because she was drunk.

The pair began fondling each other and undressed before having sex, which was interrupted when a friend of the boy — who later approached police — entered the room. Bennett said in a record of interview with police that she saw herself as being like an older sister to the boy and was "flattered someone of his age found her sexually attractive".

Defence lawyer Richard Backwell said at the time Bennett was a depressed, lonely and vulnerable alcoholic who had sought "attention, adoration and admiration". He said three weeks after the incident, she voluntarily contacted police to make full admissions without which a case could not have been mounted. Mr Backwell submitted that while there were similarities in the cases of Bennett and Ellis — the boys were similarly aged and each woman was previously of good character and remorseful — his client's offence was not premeditated.

Bennett, now 30, pleaded guilty to one charge of taking part in an act of sexual penetration with a child under 16. Judge Pilgrim said it was in her interests to adjourn sentencing for a further medical report and to prepare a report for a community based order.

Report here



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