In this edition: a former teacher avoids jail despite being convicted of sexually abusing a student, a youth offender sues the ACT government over alleged sexual assault at a detention centre, and Marist Brother Gregory Sutton receives a new sentence for historical abuse.
These disturbing cases highlight the ongoing failures in protecting children from institutional harm.
Former teacher Petra Shasha avoids jail after being convicted of sexual offences against a student
Image: ABC News
Petra Shasha, a former teacher at St Edmunds College in Canberra, has been found guilty by the ACT Supreme Court for grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old student—but has been spared prison time.
Instead, the 29-year-old has received an intensive corrections order of one year and 11 months and a $1,000 fine—a slap on the wrist compared to the seriousness of her crimes.
In 2024, a jury convicted Shasha of multiple offences, including grooming, persistent child sexual abuse, and acts of indecency. In early February 2025, prosecutors called for jail time considering the evidence, including:
- Sexual images and videos sent to the student, including an image of the pair in a shop changing room. She was wearing a G-string.
- Grooming gifts like clothes, money, alcohol, vapes, and lifts around town (including to school).
It is not clear whether sexual acts occurred between the two.
A key issue in the case was whether Shasha knew the boy was 15. However, it was revealed that Shasha met him when she was a student teacher at St Edmund’s College. The boy was in Year 9 at the time.
While he was not in her classes, the boy and his friends sought Shasha out during lunches and breaks to “flirt” with her.
No direct contact was made until Shasha left St Edmunds College, and the pair met by chance at a sporting event. Afterwards, the boy created an Instagram account to contact Shasha and claimed that he was 16.
Justice John Burns stated: “He was an immature teenager, and you did not take reasonable steps to determine his age.”
However, he also conceded he was “satisfied there is little if any prospect of reoffending in the future”.
ACT government sued after alleged sexual assault at Quamby Youth Detention Centre
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A youth offender from the former Quamby Youth Detention Centre in Symonston is suing the ACT government, alleging he was sexually abused by a member of staff on Quamby grounds.
He claims he was taken to a chicken coop and raped by a guard, and the ACT government is liable for damages due to multiple systematic failures, including:
- Lack of abuse reporting system in youth detention centres
- Failure to remove the guard from situations where he could abuse children
- Failing to check his suitability for working with children
- Failing to remove the guard from Quamby.
Quamby closed in 2008 and was replaced by the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre. Multiple former youth offenders claim to have experienced physical and sexual abuse at both centres.
“It is clear that this abuse has had a significant and longstanding impact on our clients, who were children at the time and in the care of the ACT government,” the man’s lawyer said.
“Numerous people are coming forward with stories of abuse they suffered, but also past workers with corroborating evidence of what they saw and how they were silenced when they attempted to raise their concerns with management.”
The ACT government is yet to comment on the case.
Former Marist Brother Gregory Sutton sentenced over two more historical crimes in QLD
Image: ABC News
Gregory Sutton, a former Marist Brother who has served more than a decade in prison for multiple child sexual offences, has pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence for two additional historical crimes against a child under 14.
The prosecution told the District Court in Cairns that Sutton was the boy’s rugby coach at a Marist Brothers school in Innisfail, far north Queensland. Sutton assaulted the child while driving him home from rugby training.
He would “entice” the boy into sitting on his lap with the offer of steering the car. This occurred between 1973 and 1975 when the boy was nine to 12 years old.
“The thrill of the ride, controlling the steering of the car, while carrying out your offending,” Judge Dean Morzone said at the sentencing hearing.
“You were a school teacher, you were his rugby coach, and you were a family friend. You were trusted at every level and in each of those roles.”
Sutton was first charged in 1995 and convicted of 67 offences against 15 children while working at Marist Brothers schools across QLD, NSW, and the ACT.
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