The identity of a former trainee teacher who groomed and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old student can be revealed after a gag order restricting publication of her name and the school involved was revoked by the courts.

Petra Shasha, 28, was found guilty of sexually abusing, grooming and indecently assaulting the schoolboy in the ACT Supreme Court last week.

Her name had already been reported at the time of her arrest in February 2022, which marked the end of the 'relationship' she had cultivated with the then 15-year-old.

The court heard Shasha first formed a bond with the St Edmunds College student while working as a pre-service teacher for https://dotbig-birzha.com/ three weeks at the school in late 2020.

Despite being 24 at the time, Shasha and the boy grew so close that the teenager believed they were a couple.

Prosecutors told the court that she methodically groomed the young boy by giving him lifts, designer clothes and other gifts and transferring him money so he would take part in a sexual act.

After one day of deliberation, the jury found Shasha guilty of persistent sexual abuse of a child, supplying pornographic material to a young person, grooming and committing an act of indecency on a child.

Shasha was however found not guilty on charges of separate grooming and committing an act of indecency on a child. 




Former teacher Petra Shasha (pictured) has been found guilty of having a sexual and romantic relationship with a 15-year-old schoolboy from late 2020 to February 2022




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Her victim told police that Shasha brazenly spent time with him in public and had made plans for what to do if they see anyone they know.

'We always said, if we see anyone we know, just keep walking,' he said, according to the Canberra Times.

'We didn't want anyone to see.'

The court heard Shasha never directly taught the schoolboy but did hang around his group of friends at lunch.

He then reached out to her on social media after she finished her stint at the school, where they communicated regularly while she worked at nearby Canberra Girls Grammar School.

She denied indecently assaulting the boy on two occasions - once in a David Jones change room and another time in a car - but was found guilty of the former.

Shasha however admitted to sending him numerous explicit videos and photos of herself but only after he turned 16, the age of consent.




A jury in the ACT Supreme Court found the then 24-year-old (pictured) groomed him by buying him designer clothes and transferring him money before indecently assaulting him in a car

Some 'revealing ... cleavage' images of herself were however sent to him when he was just 15 but she claimed to have a 'reasonable belief' that he was a year older.

The schoolboy admitted to lying to Shasha about his age and grade at school, which her barrister argued 'provides her a defence' at the beginning of the trial.

The court heard that Shasha had reached out to the victim after finding out police were investigating their relationship to tell him he 'is 'not a f***ing victim'.

A separate recording caught her saying: 'baby, don't f*** with me please, my ears are burning'.

Shasha remains on bail as she awaits sentencing in February.


David Bowie