A WOMAN has been awarded more than $1 million in compensation after she was sexually abused over several years by her teacher in Moree.
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Darryl Reineker, a former teacher at the Moree Christian Community School, was jailed for the sustained grooming and indecent and sexual assaults of the young girl before she sued him in the NSW Supreme Court for damages last month.
The now 27-year-old woman, who can legally only be identified as “B”, was first preyed upon by Reineker when he took up a job as a teacher at the school in 2001.
But the court heard B’s first encounter with Reineker was a year earlier, when she was 12, after she met him at the Four Square Calvary Christian Church, where she attended with her family.
Reineker befriended the girl’s family and, in 2001, the maths and sports teacher offered to tutor B, after she began encountering trouble with her maths.
Once they were alone, the predatory behaviour started.
“He used the opportunity to touch her inappropriately,” Justice Christine Adamson said.
“The plaintiff felt uncomfortable but did not report it, for fear that she would get into trouble.”
Evidence before the court revealed a number of indecent assaults occurred on the school grounds before Reineker resigned his position in 2003.
In evidence on the incidents, B said: “At the time, I thought the way I was feeling was my fault and Darryl wasn’t doing anything wrong. I didn’t want to upset Darryl. I thought that, because Darryl was my school teacher and swim coach, and he was an adult, that he wouldn’t be doing the wrong thing. I trusted him.”
When she was 19, B moved to Armidale to finish her HSC at TAFE.
Reineker followed and continued to visit and have sex with her until Christmas 2008, the Supreme Court was told.
One year later, she confessed to what she had endured, after talking with a motivational speaker, but it was her then-boyfriend in 2009 who urged her to report the incident to police.
Evidence presented in court revealed B had been impregnated twice, had been suicidal and had been diagnosed with PTSD as a result of Reineker preying upon her over several years.
“The evidence established that, while the plaintiff was still a minor and a pupil in the defendant’s class, he abused his position of trust and authority,” Justice Adamson said.
“He groomed her and then exploited and corrupted her for his own sexual needs and desires.”
B sued for personal trespass for the sustained assaults on her between 2001 and 2008 and Justice Adamson ordered Reineker to pay $1.228 million in criminal damages as well as costs.
Reineker remains in jail serving out his sentence.