A former Catholic high school teacher who befriended and then sexually abused a vulnerable student has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Giuseppe (Joe) Graziano, 56, taught religious studies and cosmetology at Cathedral High School, on Wentworth Street North, at the time of the offences.

"Mr. Graziano slowly worked his way into the life (of the student) — more than one would expect of a teacher," said Superior Court Justice Harrison Arrell in sentencing Graziano on Thursday.

Graziano was convicted in August of sexual interference and sexual exploitation for sexually touching a person under 16 and for touching a young person while in a position of trust.

The offences took place at the school, at Graziano's home and at a trailer he owned.

Arrell noted there was no penetration or gratuitous violence in the acts, but said the courts will not tolerate sexual abuse by those in a position of trust. There must be a strong denunciation of what Graziano did to a young and vulnerable student, he said.

Court heard the victim was a susceptible young teenager who had lost a loved one at the time.

"Students must be protected from teachers who prey on them," Arrell said.

"Three years is a significant penalty for someone like Mr. Graziano," he added.

In addition, Graziano will be placed on the sex offender registry.

A court order bans the publication of anything identifying the male victim.

This is Graziano's second sex-crime conviction: he was found guilty in 2012 of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old male student in an empty classroom three years earlier.

(Charges of sexually assaulting a young disabled male from 2006 to 2009 were withdrawn in 2013.)

On Thursday, Arrell noted Graziano, who ran a hair salon before becoming a teacher in his 30s, has lost a teaching career that he loved, has lost his wife — the couple recently separated after 32 years of marriage, and that Graziano suffers from diabetes, depression and 'adjustment disorder'.

He also noted Graziano has four children "who speak highly of their father and are supportive" and "speak of a very happy home life".

The court received 32 letters of support for Graziano from family, friends and former colleagues — all "extremely supportive and highly respectful."

"I accept his career as a teacher now is over and that's a devastating repercussion," Arrell said, adding that he also accepts that the victim has trust issues as a result of what happened.

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The defence had argued for a sentence of two years; the Crown for five to six years.

Arrell quoted a previous court case in which it was said that as a society, we owe it to our children to deal harshly with their sexual abusers. Children "are incapable of protecting themselves against such predators," he read out. "The horrific consequences of child sexual abuse are only too well known".