Katie Ring (11:07)
15 year old Sarah Kopp is being sexually groomed and abused by her 31 year old teacher, Paul Greely. Like predators do, Paul had gained the trust of Sarah's mom and wormed his way into their family. The situation started as uncomfortable comments from her teacher, but by 2000 it had transitioned to full on sexual assault. Sarah is a young girl who does not know how to feel about Paul's behavior. On one hand, she respects him and craves the love of a father figure. She thinks he's just teaching her how to be in a relationship, but she is also hesitant with the secret weighing heavily on her. Finally, in December of that year, right before Christmas, Sarah asks her mother Deborah to sit down and Sarah tells her everything. Sarah's young, so even Though deep down she knows what's happening is wrong, she still doesn't understand the full gravity of the situation. She's expecting her mother to be concerned, but instead Deborah clams up. She's never known how to deal with tough situations, and instead of helping her daughter, she tells her not to tell anyone else, which allows Paul to continue abusing Sarah. The more it goes on, the more Sarah retreats from her life. Her grades begin to slip and she starts spending less time with her friends. Sarah is becoming more and more isolated and she doesn't know where to turn for help. Some of her friends notice the change in her behavior, but that's not the only thing they have observed. They've also started to catch on to Paul's overly affectionate treatment towards Sarah at school. They also start noticing his car parked outside of her house at night. Finally, Sarah's best friend asks her what's going on and Sarah tells her everything. But she also tells her friend that it has to say a secret or else Paul could get in trouble. Now Sarah's friend is just as scared and confused as she is. She also doesn't want to lose Sarah even more than she already has. So she doesn't tell anyone what she's learned. Throughout the rest of the school year, Paul continues to groom and abuse Sarah. Then, at the start of the next year, in 2001, when Sarah is in 11th grade, Paul tells her he has some news. He got a new teaching job and he's moving to Brisbane, which is four hours away from Harvey Bay. But Paul doesn't plan on this being a final goodbye. He asks Sarah to go with him and to try and convince her to come along. He promises to enroll her in a dance academy. Once they get there, Sarah wants to go to dance school more than anything, and Deborah doesn't stop it. Just like that, Paul rips Sarah away from the only life she's ever known to hold her captive in an unfamiliar city. As soon as they arrive in Brisbane, Sarah realizes that Paul's promises of dance school were a complete lie. When he enrolls Sarah at a typical public school back in Harvey Bay, some of Sarah's former teachers suspect that something inappropriate is going on, and one of them thinks she can find out for sure. Earlier that year, she had her students complete a time capsule project where they wrote notes about what they wanted to achieve by the end of the school year. The teacher pulls out Sarah's notes. One of them reads, quote, I want to be able to tell everyone my secret and I want to be able to be free and do what I please, with whom, who I please. Another says, I wish that some things in my life were out in the open. I hate being behind closed doors. The teacher interprets these notes as a clear sign that Paul had been grooming Sarah the previous year, and she immediately reports him to the Queensland Department of Education. But when the department contacts Debra, she tells him Paul is just her friend, and she says that nothing inappropriate has ever happened between them. After that, the investigation is dropped and Sarah remains in Brisbane with Paul for the next two years. Then, in 2003, Sarah turns 18, which means Paul doesn't have to make her hide their relationship even as he continues teaching. At the same time, once Sarah is of legal age, Paul becomes more controlling and further isolates Sarah from the few friends she has in Brisbane. Things go on like this for another three years, and in 2006, when Sarah is 21 and Paul is 37, he finds another way to control her. That year, Sarah learns that she's pregnant. She shares the news with Paul, and they decide to get married. On the day of the ceremony, Sarah feels extremely anxious. She realizes she doesn't want to marry Paul. However, she's too afraid to back out since she's pregnant. So she and Paul are officially wed. After their baby is born, things seem to look up a little. Sarah and Paul move back to Harvey Bay to live with Deborah. But unfortunately, returning home doesn't change anything. In fact, it only chains her to Paul even more. Eventually, they have a second child, and as Sarah gets older and dives deeper into motherhood, Paul's temper becomes more and more fragile. He's easily upset, and he starts belittling and insulting Sarah on a regular basis. He also gaslights her into believing all of their marital problems are her fault. When Sarah sticks up for herself, Paul says he misses the quote, cute little girl she used to be. At this point, Sarah still believes she's in a normal relationship. But she also knows she needs help figuring out how to stop fighting with Paul so much so, she gets in touch with a psychiatrist. When she tells the doctor about how he's been treating her lately, the doctor explains that they're in a toxic relationship. It takes Sarah a while to accept it, but she eventually comes to terms with it. She is in a toxic relationship and she's had enough. So after eight years of marriage, she files for divorce. After the split, Sarah does her best to move on with her life. She enrolls at a university to study dance, just like she'd always wanted, and eventually earns her teaching certificate. She is finally living on her own terms, but her past seems to haunt her. The more distance she gets from Paul, the more she reflects on things. Not just from their marriage, but from the time she was 15 years old. Years go by and one day everything suddenly becomes clear. Paul groomed her. Her former teacher, ex husband and father of her kids is a child abuser. And at the same time, Sarah's daughter is nearing the same age that she was when Paul first began grooming her. Sarah refuses to let the same thing happen to her kids or anyone's kids if she can help it. She has to report Paul. At first, Sarah is a little nervous to go to the police. She's afraid they won't believe her, especially since she and Paul were once married. Plus she's afraid that sending him to jail will be too hard on her kids. But Sarah reminds herself that Paul is still working as a teacher and every passing day he poses a threat. So finally, in 2018, four years after her divorce, Sarah walks into a police station in Brisbane and reports Paul. And after that, her whole life changes.
