A decision over whether to parole a female teacher, jailed for sexually violating and manipulating a 10-year-old male student, has been delayed until next month.
Stacey Reriti, 38, who is serving a decade-long sentence, requested the extension in order to continue her trauma counselling in prison.
The Parole Board said it was better to do that at the correctional facility, instead of in the community, and adjourned the case until April 3.
During the hearing, Reriti was described as "compliant" and "polite", with a glowing report and excellent time management skills.
Reriti was found guilty in 2015 on six charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and one of an indecent act on a minor.
The former deputy principal committed the offences between 2012-2014, while she worked at Natone Park School in Porirua.
The victim, now in his early 20s, was just 10 when the offending began at a secluded area Reriti drove him to.
The relationship started as kissing, then progressed to oral sex and sexual intercourse when the boy was 12.
The offending took place in a car and at a motel.
During the 2015 trial, the court heard how Reriti gave the boy a cell phone and sent sexually explicit messages to him.
The Crown Prosecutor said the victim's father was also extremely unwell while the abuse was taking place, and that he had died.
He said that far from being a compassionate supporter during this period, Reriti manipulated the situation for her own emotional and sexual ends.
The judge who proceeded over the trial said the boy had described Reriti's offending as sickening and that it took his childhood away from him.
Reriti's statutory release date is April 2026.
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