Aussie principal jailed for sex with student

SYDNEY - A former high school principal faces just nine months more in jail after being sentenced on Friday for having sex with a 16-year-old student in 2007.

Frank Bailey, 46, the ex-principal of a Christian school at Grafton in northern NSW, previously pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual intercourse over four days with a 16-year-old under his care.

During sentencing submissions he told the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney he had believed he was in love with the girl, adding that he had mental issues and was lonely and drinking heavily at the time.

In the same court on Friday Judge John North sentenced Bailey to at least two years and three months in prison, with a maximum sentence of three years and nine months, saying it was "difficult to think of a more blatant abuse of trust".

"From his seniority he knew that his actions were reprehensible and amounted to a gross abuse of trust," the judge said.

However, Judge North acknowledged that Bailey had shown strong signs of remorse and contrition in court and in a letter written to his victim.

"Committing these offences has had a devastating effect on his psychological state," he added.

Bailey sat sobbing, with his head in his hands, rocking back and forth as his sentence was read to the court.

With time already served he will be eligible for parole on August 8 next year.

- AAP