WA teacher began sexually abusing student when he was 12, court told

A West Australian school teacher who had a baby by her student has admitted to sexually abusing him over a 16-month period, starting when he was just 12 years old.

Naomi Tekea Craig, 33, was charged by child abuse detectives late last year, accused of persistently engaging in sexual conduct with a student at her school in Mandurah, a coastal city south of Perth, between 2024 and 2025.

She faced court a day after her last sexual encounter with the boy in December, and just weeks before she gave birth to a child, who police alleged was fathered by the boy, on January 8.

The victim was just 13 years old at the time.

On Tuesday, Craig was excused from appearing at Mandurah Magistrates Court in person for medical reasons, instead dialling into the hearing via telephone where she pleaded guilty to a raft of new charges that revealed her sexual contact with the boy began when he was 12 in 2024.

Those new charges include indecently dealing with a child under 13 years and sexual penetration of a child under 13.

Craig has now pleaded guilty to 15 charges in total. Her first encounter with the boy was in August 2024 and the last was on December 16, 2025.

She was also charged with possessing child exploitation material.

The music teacher, who was pregnant at the time of her arrest, is currently on bail under onerous conditions that include no unsupervised contact with any children except her own and a prohibition from contacting the young victim.

Earlier this month, police confirmed a DNA test had been conducted after Craig – who is married – gave birth, which they alleged confirmed the victim was the baby’s father.

In a letter to parents, Frederick Irwin Anglican School said the woman had been suspended from her role as a teacher while the charges progressed through the courts, and she had been instructed not to visit the school grounds.

Craig’s charges will now be fast-tracked to a sentence mention in Perth District Court on March 27, where she will be listed for a sentencing hearing.

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