Student Affair Did Not Happen, Says Teacher

25 November 2008

A TEACHER who lost her job over an alleged sexual relationship with one of her students says the teenager fabricated the affair because he had formed a schoolboy infatuation with her, which later caused him to stalk and assault her.

Anna Lucinda Blackburn, 34, in an unfair dismissal claim in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, has accused the Department of Education of failing to investigate the student's mental health history before taking his word over hers and terminating her employment at Carenne Public School, a special school in Bathurst.

The student, David Maurice Withyman, now 23, is suing Ms Blackburn and the state of NSW in separate District Court proceedings for breaching their duty of care.

In those proceedings, he says the teacher entered into a sexual relationship with him in 2003 that the school failed to prevent, and its termination drove him to commit crimes including assault, possessing an unauthorised firearm and being armed with intent to commit an offence. Ms Blackburn and the department are defending the claim.

But yesterday in the Industrial Relations Commission his two targets were fighting among themselves, with the Department of Education's barrister, Stan Benson, interrogating Ms Blackburn over her decision to continue speaking on the telephone to Mr Withyman after a behavioural contract had been drawn up to prevent inappropriate contact between the pair.

Telephone records indicate they spoke for periods lasting up to 40 minutes, sometimes every night of the week, and a shopkeeper across the road from Ms Blackburn's home told police he had frequently seen a teenager matching Mr Withyman's description leaving Ms Blackburn's home in the early morning.

After the alleged relationship broke up in 2003, the commission heard, Mr Withyman gave authorities a graphic description of encounters with Ms Blackburn, including that they had played strip poker and used cream in their sexual activities.

He said they first had sex after Ms Blackburn came to watch him play football, later inviting him back to her home and performing fellatio on him before engaging in sexual intercourse.

Yesterday Ms Blackburn denied she went to watch Mr Withyman play football or invited him back to her home. She said he was not visiting her when his ute was allegedly spotted outside her home by the shopkeeper.

Mr Withyman had turned up at her home unannounced on several occasions, she said, and she should have reported his behaviour to the school principal. She also agreed she should have told the principal he had threatened to commit suicide, but she blamed herself for the blurring of boundaries. "I don't believe David was wrong at all," she said.

"I believe I was wrong."

Ms Blackburn's lawyer, Eric White, said there was no corroborating evidence that the relationship took place.

"The applicant denies any sort of sexual relationship with David Withyman or any improper conduct at any time," Mr White said.

The hearing continues today.


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