A woman who was a 17-year-old girl at an elite Sydney private school when a teacher seduced her has stared him down in a Sydney court.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a pupil at the school when Ben Fenner began sending her sexualised messages via Whatsapp.
"All the messages on here ... are encrypted ... great for secrets," he messaged her, according to the agreed facts.
Fenner has pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under 18 and under his care.
He asked Judge Robert Weber to take into account a further eight matters of sexual intercourse with his former student.
On Thursday in the District Court the woman read out her victim impact statement saying it's taken a long time to realise she was manipulated and groomed by Fenner.
"I thought this was a normal thing ... a normal relationship," she said.
"He knew the rules and the code of conduct ... he used me ... I was a vulnerable 17-year-old, you were 33."
At the time of the abuse she was suffering from depression and anxiety after the loss of a family member.
"I feel you have taken so much away from me ... my friends and high school experience," she said.
After finishing her statement she stared straight at Fenner who had his head bowed.
Giving evidence, Fenner apologised for causing her grief and pain, and ruining the time leading up to her higher school certificate.
When asked if he knew what he was doing was wrong, a serious beach of trust and an abuse of the teacher-student relationship, he continually answered "yes".
Fenner was born in England but moved to Sydney to start a new life after the breakdown of his marriage in 2011.
He described the teaching philosophy at the eastern suburbs school as significantly different to other schools he had taught at.
Teachers were encouraged to give students their personal phone numbers and to be available for contact out of regular school hours.
His text messages to his victim turned sexual before organising to meet up over a three-month period.
In one instance she thought they were going to the beach for a school assignment, but instead he had sexual intercourse with her.
Crown prosecutor Roger Kimbell said there had been a gross power imbalance between a child and adult.
"It's not a case of a relationship between two consenting adults," he said.
"He's an intelligent professional man in his 30s almost twice her age."
The sentence hearing continues.
