A 45-year-old woman who had inappropriate exchanges with a boy one-third her age - including sending a topless image - is now a registered sex offender.
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Kerrianne Shepherdson exchanged texts with the teenager in Wodonga in late 2019.
Included in the exchanges was an image of her bare breasts, with Wodonga magistrate Ian Watkins labeling the actions of the 45-year-old mother of teenage daughters completely inappropriate.
Lawyer Sascha McCorriston claimed the topless image sent by her client on November 9 was intended for her husband.
"She has always maintained there was no intention behind that message," Ms McCorriston said.
The suggestion drew the forceful ire of Mr Watkins, who noted Shepherdson had pleaded guilty.
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"It's just nonsense," he said.
Mr Watkins said the lawyer's claims were inconsistent with the evidence, which included sexually charged conversations in which the victim said he had a girlfriend.
Shepherdson knew the teenager socially and the magistrate said she had crossed boundaries.
"What possessed you to engage in that ... is not known," Mr Watkins said.
"But it was totally inappropriate.
"It involved a complete breach of trust."
The magistrate said courts frequently dealt with such offending where the genders were reversed.
"The fact you are female and the victim is a teenage boy doesn't make it any less serious," he said.
The victim, who wrote in one of the messages that he considered the woman his second mum, didn't make a statement to police.
The offending was discovered when his family alerted investigators.
"It was a friendship that should never have taken place in the first place," Mr Watkins said.
Ms McCorriston failed to have Shepherdson's name redacted from charge sheets, given the embarrassment it would cause.
She will be on the sex offender registry for eight years, and must serve a community corrections order for the next 12 months with 100 hours of unpaid work.
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