Shortcut: He Was My High School Teacher, Then My Husband
4/19/202617 min
This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.
Sarah Kopp was groomed from the age of 15 by her high school PE teacher, Paul Grealy, beginning an unlawful relationship that continued into adulthood.
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CREDITS:
Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: Sarah Kopp
Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMeshel Laurie· Host0:00
The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. [somber music] This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Lawrie. Our guest today is Sarah Kopp, who is speaking publicly about the long-term impact of grooming by her former high school PE teacher, Paul Greeley. At just 15, while a student at Urangan State High School in Hervey Bay, Sarah was drawn into an unlawful relationship shaped by praise, boundary violations, and secrecy, dynamics she says continued to influence her well into adulthood. In the meantime, they had married and had several children. Years later she reported Greeley to police, and in 2023 he was found guilty of multiple child sex offenses. Today, Sarah is a dance teacher and founder of Step In For Kids, an initiative focused on helping communities recognize the warning signs and prevent abuse. Sarah joins us on Australian True Crime to talk about it. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Sarah Kopp· Guest1:09
My mom was a single mom, um, had always been since I was born, um, so it was just the two of us. Yeah, that definitely made her vulnerable because I think, too, you know, we came from a family where you put a lot of trust in people, especially when they're in positions like being a teacher or, you know, those