Illawarra Catholic teacher who sexually abused student to make appeal bid

Gaye Grant, 77, was sentenced at Wollongong District Court in December 2022 to six years and nine months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period that expires in April 2026.

She pleaded guilty to a historic charge of maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child stemming from when she taught at Albion Park's St Paul's Catholic Primary School in the 1970s.

Wearing prison-issued greens, Grant was briefly beamed onto the audio-visual link screen at the same court on Tuesday to make a bail application, 14 months into her sentence.

However, the application was withdrawn, with the court hearing Grant will instead face the Criminal Court of Appeal on Thursday.

Tendered court documents outlined 12 specific incidents where Grant sexually abused the student, but these are representative of many more occasions on which abuse occurred.

It began with Grant - who was married with children - encouraging the boy to fondle her breasts, and progressed to sexual intercourse, which first occurred when the boy was still in primary school.

Grant told the boy she loved him and coached him on what to say if her husband discovered them together.

As the victim entered high school and matured, he realised what was happening was not normal or right, and he began to distance himself.

He then ended their encounters, which prompted Grant to write a note to him in which she said words close to: "[Victim], I apologise for upsetting you. Can we still be together? I still love you and miss you. Love, Gaye OOOXXX".

The victim told a friend what had happened, and also disclosed this abuse in confession at church - but was told to pray and do penance.

In June 2021, phone conversations between the man and Grant were captured in which Grant said she took her physical ailments as penance for what she did.

"Please don't do anything terrible to me," she told the victim.

In a later police interview, Grant admitted to sexual intercourse with the victim "but not as many times as he's made out" and said she did not encourage him to have sex with her.

During sentencing, the victim told the court Grant's crimes have had everlasting physical and emotional impacts.

He described how Grant was "like the Pied piper, the cool teacher" and that she used him like a toy.

"I still to this day have nightmares about this period in my life," he said. "I live with permanent pain.