A babysitter who sexually abused a nine-year-old girl in her Melbourne home before going on to become a primary school teacher has been spared jail and a conviction.
Ciara Browne, now in her late 20s, pleaded guilty to child sex offences committed over a period of three years, ending when she was 17 and her victim was 12. She had been school captain, and went on to get a job as a teacher at St Therese’s School in Essendon.
But despite confessing in a secretly recorded conversation in 2024, Browne fought multiple “indecent act with child” charges and forced her victim to endure cross-examination in court, before finally admitting to her crimes earlier this month, the Sunday Herald Sun reported.
Browne faced the County Court last week where Judge Marcus Dempsey sentenced her to a Community Corrections Order running for two years and eight months, with 240 hours of community work and mandatory mental health treatment.
She avoided having a conviction recorded due to her age at the time of the abuse, and a suppression order preventing her from being identified was lifted. She is also banned from teaching for life.
The court previously heard Browne committed the offences, which are too graphic to describe, while role-playing as “mums and dads” in the girl’s bedroom or playroom.
The victim told her family about the abuse a decade later, and she and her mother invited Browne back to their home and confronted her.
When the victim told Browne the offending “ruined my life”, the former teacher replied “I’m really sorry about that. I thought we were playing together and enjoying it”, and wrote an apology letter two days later.
But Browne then instructed her defence barrister to use her victim’s counselling records as evidence against her in court, and question her credibility during cross examination.
The victim said the cross-examination was one of the “worst experiences” of her life and that she felt like she was on trial for the abuse done to her, while her mother said the “process has been cruel, vicious and ruthless”.
Judge Dempsey said in sentencing that Browne had “actively defended the allegations in every way”, and that “her own fear of the consequences trumped the damage done to the victim” while questioning her remorse.
He said in handing down the community order that if Browne had taken the case to trial he would have given her a custodial sentence, but said there was an “unusual constellation” of factors, including that she had not offended since, in her favour.
Header image: Ciara Browne.
