A Perth sports teacher has been jailed for touching a student he had a four-year relationship with.
The parents of the girl have spoken out through tears, encouraging others being preyed on to come forward.
The student was just 14 when the man started to groom her. Now an adult, she suffers severe anxiety disorders and can’t work.
The parents are still processing what the former northern suburbs PE teacher did to their daughter.
“My daughter lives with constant anxiety, PTSD, and different emotions every day,” her mother said.
“She can never get her childhood back.
“You broke our trust, you lied, you connived, you cheated.
“You have ruined her life.”
Ryan Clarke spent 17 years teaching at John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School.
Now he’ll spend at least two years behind bars, one year if granted parole.
The now 42-year-old admitted to seven counts of indecently dealing with a child.
The court heard Clarke started confiding in the girl more than a decade ago following a breakup.
A year later the teacher secretly met up with the student during a school swim camp, where he “kissed” and “hugged” the 14 year-old, and also read her a “love letter”.
A few years later he indecently touched the girl in a storage room at Mirrabooka High School.
Her father said the “anger” he feels is “very mentally draining”.
At the father-of-two’s sentencing, current teachers provided character references the parents say added insult to injury.
“It was just gobsmacking and devastating for our daughter to hear that,” the mother said.
In a letter to the school community, John Septimus Roe Community School principal Jason Bartell said he was “profoundly appalled and bitterly disappointed”.
“This behaviour is a severe breach of our core school values of trust, integrity and accountability, and the individual responsibilities of every person who is employed by the school,” he said.
“The safety and well-being of our students remain my utmost priority. We rigorously enforce all child safe protocols and will continue to do so vigilantly.”
Clarke is the second teacher at the school convicted of offences against children in the past six months, with Roberto Messina admitting to possessing child exploitation material in January.
He’ll be sentenced in July.
