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POLICE will be watching to ensure pedophile schoolteacher Karen Ellis does not get one cent of a lucrative interview fee. Ellis and her victim, former student Benjamin Dunbar, will appear on Channel 9's 60 Minutes tomorrow in a $40,000 deal. It is believed Ben will receive the fee but the Herald Sun believes police will monitor the arrangement to ensure Ellis does not profit. She is ineligible to be paid for any media appearance relating to her crimes. Footage from the 60 Minutes segment shows the pair laughing and joking on a golf course and being interviewed together. They are at ease together as Ellis expresses regret at the affair, for which she was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual penetration of a minor. She said she now knew what she did was wrong but that she did not see herself as a pedophile. "I knew what I was doing. I'm not making excuses at all," she said. "Look, if I could take it all back, I would." Ellis said she had been though a nightmare which had cost her her job and her marriage. Benjamin said he was a victim under the law but did not feel like one. "I suppose you could call it that (lust). Just a crush that went too far," he said. The Australian Childhood Foundation condemned the interview for running the risk of normalising a sexual offence. A 60 Minutes spokesman said no money had been paid to Ellis, her family or her lawyers. A police officer who investigated Ellis said she ruined her victim's life and warned other parents to keep their sons away from her. Sgt Mark Wakefield, of the Diamond Creek sexual offences and child abuse unit, said Ellis continued to display classic pedophile traits. He said he believed her 60 Minutes interview shows she continues to have complete control and power over Ben, now 17. "She is a pedophile and is a danger to young adult males. She will manipulate them and parents should be wary of their sons being involved with her," he said. Sgt Wakefield said people who believe no harm was done to Ben should think again. He said before Ben was preyed upon by Ellis he had promising scholastic and sporting careers ahead of him. She has also turned him away from his family. "It's all down the drain now. He dropped out of school at Year 10 when all this became public," Sgt Wakefield said. "She is a straight out-and-out sex offender pedophile and is a danger to children." Sgt Wakefield revealed he had offered to be interviewed by 60 Minutes but was turned down. "They probably wouldn't like what they heard from me," he said. Herald Sun (19-11-2005) Mark Buttler/ Craig Binnie |
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FORMER Melbourne physical education teacher Karen Louise Ellis has failed in her bid to appeal against her jail sentence for having sex with a teenage boy. The 37-year-old teacher pleaded guilty to six charges of sexual penetration with a child under 16 after having a six-and-a-half week affair with the Year 10 student in 2003. Ellis was originally sentenced in the Victorian County Court to 22 months jail wholly suspended for three years. In May this year the Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by the DPP and resentenced Ellis to two years and eight months jail with six months to be served immediately and the remainder suspended. Today, High Court justices Michael Kirby, Ken Hayne and Ian Callinan rejected her application to appeal the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal. "It is unlikely that the Court of Appeal gave no consideration of the discretions available to the sentencing judge," Justice Kirby said. "We are not convinced that a miscarriage of justice occurred in this case." Herald/ Weekly Times (9-9-2005) |
MAKO/Files Online.. Listing Australian Convicted Paedophiles/ Sex Offenders.. FREE Public Service..
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VICTORIAN law is powerless to prevent a female teacher convicted of having sex with a teenage student from continuing to maintain a relationship from her jail cell. Karen Ellis, 37, a mother of three serving a minimum six-months' jail, reportedly wrote letters to her former lover, Benjamin Dunbar, now 17. Her husband, Steven Ellis, who supported his wife during her trial, confirmed yesterday the pair had separated. Ellis was convicted of sexual penetration of a minor after she admitted having a sexual relationship with the boy when he was 15 and in Year 10 at the Melbourne high school where she was a teacher. A Melbourne newspaper published claims yesterday from an inmate at the Tarrengower prison in central Victoria that the two were plotting a reunion. A spokesman for the Victorian Office of Public Prosecution said there was nothing to prevent Ellis contacting the boy unless she was stalking him. Solicitors for Ellis's husband also have video footage of her cavorting with the schoolboy on Victoria's south coast while holidaying with her children. The footage was taken after Ellis walked free after a court gave her a suspended sentence. That decision was overturned on appeal in May, when she was sentenced to 32 months in prison. The Australian (28-6-2005) Natasha Robinson |
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A FEMALE teacher who pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy will spend six months in prison after originally being given a suspended sentence. The Victorian Court of Appeal today overturned the original 22-month suspended sentence imposed by a County Court judge on mother-of-three Karen Louise Ellis, 37. Following the crown prosecutor's appeal against the sentence, the court resentenced her to two years and eight months' jail, suspending all but six months. Ellis had pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual penetration with a boy under 16. Ellis's lawyer Chester Metcalfe said his client was distraught. "She's pretty devastated; we're all devastated," Mr Metcalfe said outside the court. "She's taking it pretty hard at the moment as you can expect. "It's been a pretty long road." Ellis had not yet spoken to her family and might consider an appeal, Mr Metcalfe said. "We're looking at that at the moment," he said. "We haven't had a good chance to go through the judgment at the moment. "We'll look at the rights of appeal but she's devastated as you can expect." 'Narelle', the mother of the teen who had the affair with Ellis, said justice had been done. "Hopefully she'll sit in (jail) for a while and think about how she has affected so many people," she told Southern Cross radio. AAP (5-5-2005) |
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A TEACHER bombarded a 15-year-old schoolboy lover with 499 text messages during their illicit affair, a court was told yesterday. Mother of three Karen Louise Ellis admitted yesterday to having sex with the student on six occasions last year, while her husband was away on business. The Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard the pair were in love and might still be together if the boy had been older and the circumstances different. Ellis, 36, of Eltham North, pleaded guilty yesterday to six charges of sexual penetration involving a child under 16. Their forbidden liaisons were revealed after the boy's suspicious mother spotted the two getting into Ellis's car outside the school grounds. The mother described their body language as "lovey-dovey". The court was told the boy, who cannot be named, failed Year 10 and became estranged from his family after the affair ended in November last year. Ellis, a petite blonde who appeared in court dressed in black and wearing dark sunglasses, resigned from her position as physical education and health teacher in December. It is understood the boy and Ellis remain in contact. The affair began in September last year with kisses exchanged in the school gym, and developed into a sexual relationship within a month, the court was told. Ellis told police the pair were shooting hoops on the school's basketball court when the boy declared: "If I get this in .., you can give me a kiss." A month later, the pair went to Ellis's house, where they shared a meal and had sex. Over the next six weeks, they used Ellis's family home as a hideaway to have sex and talk. The boy skipped school once to be with his lover, who worked only part-time. Ellis told police she accepted she was in the wrong, but had not really considered the boy's age. "He wasn't a little boy," she told police in her interview. "It actually sounds so ridiculous, but I know (his) feelings. And I know mine. "It isn't just about sex. Honestly, if I split up ... tomorrow with my husband and (the boy) was 18, I would imagine we would still continue to see each other." Ellis said the pair regularly sent love text messages to each other. Police said phone records show Ellis text-messaged the boy 499 times over a three- month period, and received 123 voice messages from him. Ellis was supported by her husband, Stephen, at her last court appearance, but appeared without him yesterday. But her lawyer, Chester Metcalfe, said she continued to have the support of her family. Ellis faces a maximum jail term of 15 years on each charge. Magistrate Dan Muling released her on bail and ordered her to appear in the County Court on November 4. AAP (18-8-2004) Chloe Adams |
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MOST teenage boys live life as fantasy, believing one day they open the batting for Australia, race Formula One, discover the secret of man-powered flight, and seduce whoever happens to be the hottest pop singer that week. At some stage they will also probably fantasise that they kill their enemies, belt their father on the nose and sleep with the attractive young school teacher because she begs them for it. Fantasy is part of the confusion and delight of growing up, although most lads do no harm with it because they recognise there is a line to reality that will never be crossed. Still, like the toddler who likes to jump off the roof and prove he is Superman, they need protection from their fantasy world at times and that is why the adults in their lives have to guide, advise, and protect them. When an adult fails that trust they are committing one of the greatest failures possible. When they breach it deliberately, and exploit the child as it emerges from the adolescent fog that adult is guilty of evil. So it is with Karen Louise Ellis, teacher, and pedophile. Forget the nudge-nudge wink-wink macho men, it makes no difference that she has seduced a male child. She is as guilty as any pedophile of creating evil and destroying lives. But there is a double standard here highlighted by the public outrage over another seducer of school- children, the former tennis coach Gavin Hopper. When the court heard how he had seduced a young girl over several years his actions were considered despicable. Karen Ellis did precisely the same thing with a young boy over a shorter time, but a large section of Melbourne wallowed in it like some type of porno-treat. Have a look at these two, all blond hair and suntans. Karen Ellis and Gavin Hopper could be brother and sister. They are peas in the same sleazy pod. Both are a disgrace to their calling her- because they seduced, manipulated and exploited children to whom they had a duty of care. ELLIS appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court last week and pleaded guilty to six counts of having sex with a child under 16. Theoretically she faces up to 25 years in jail, but that won't happen. Hopper is already serving a minimum of 27 months in jail after being found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and six of gross indecency. It says much about male sexuality that the judgment of society is less damning of Ellis. To some, a man exploiting a young woman is outrageous, but a woman exploiting a young man is good luck. It makes no difference that in both cases the victim consented. Young teenagers are confused and fragile. It is cruel to use them as a type of trophy for men or women who want to boost their egos, play power games, or satisfy their lust. Unlike Hopper, Ellis has had the decency to plead guilty, which reduces the painful court procedure but means the extent of her exploitation and manipulation may never become public. But it is clear this person is not normal. No normal 36-year-old woman sends 499 phone text messages to a 15-year-old boy, and calls him 50 times. No normal teacher offers a child sex, followed by McDonald's for lunch, then back to school. Even after being charged she has continued to see him, something the courts should have banned as a bail condition. Imagine the outrage if a male teacher who had seduced a young girl continued to swan around the streets with her like some lovesick teenager. Women can be just as predatory as men. Young boys are susceptible to the same hurt, confusion and long term disastrous consequences as any young girl subjected to the same abuse. The pain of this will burn for years. I have talked at length to the boy's mother who does not want to speak publicly because she is estranged from him and that is tearing her apart. She is anxious not to widen the rift, but she tells of a loving and close family destroyed by this self- obsessed blonde predator. The boy has been fooled and believes this woman really cares for him. He blames his mother for going to the police and breaking them up. Ellis's own family- her husband and three children, has been deeply hurt and embarrassed by this woman's actions, something of which she seemed unaware as she strutted from the court. Her oldest daughter is about 12, barely younger than the boy who was seduced. Imagine her despair watching her mother's infamy. The Education Department has been relatively quiet in all this, although it is clear that the school has breached its duty of care, too. Friends now say the relationship was obvious, but nobody in authority at the school seemed to notice. Problems like this are not unprecedented. Over the past three years 10 Victorian state school teachers have resigned or been sacked because of inappropriate relationships with students. TWO of those 10 were women. How many - were charged? Since the Ellis case became public the school system has been less than helpful to the boy's family and given the continued breach of trust the figures show it is time to review those protocols. These incidents may never be stopped, but when they happen the school system must help everybody concerned and prosecute those responsible, not just accept a tactical resignation. Gavin Hopper's exploitation of a young girl hurt many people. Karen Ellis' selfish breach of trust also hurt many people. She now faces the judgment of the law. Sadly, today, the social Judgment of her is less damning. And that is ridiculous. AAP (24-8-2004) Neil Mitchell |
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