Gaye Grant: Ex-teacher who admitted child abuse free due to gender
A former NSW teacher has had a historical child sex abuse conviction quashed, becoming the second person to successfully argue women could not be legally responsible for the crime under laws in place at the time.
Gaye Grant, who is now in her late 70s, was jailed in December 2022 for abusing a boy in the 1970s after pleading guilty to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child.
After almost 15 months behind bars, the ex-teacher was released on bail and given leave to appeal in March following the release of another former teacher, Helga Lam, who had historical sex abuse charges quashed in February.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The allegations against Lam were thrown out in a landmark judgment that identified women could not be legally responsible for abusing boys under previous laws that only covered male offenders.
On Friday, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld Grant’s appeal and quashed her conviction.
She was previously released on bail after a court found the ex-teacher was at good odds of overturning her conviction because of the Lam judgment.
Grant’s legal team had argued there was legal precedent for a conviction appeal to be entertained despite a guilty plea if the appellant could not be legally convicted of the offence.
The appeal win voids her District Court conviction, which led to a six-year jail sentence being imposed.
That sentence had been due to expire in September 2029.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
