A week before Tayla Brailey confessed to sleeping with a 17‑year‑old student, her husband handed her divorce papers.
By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA
Published: 21:46 EDT, 1 April 2026 | Updated: 21:46 EDT, 1 April 2026
A disgraced high school teacher who admitted to having sex with a male student was handed divorce papers by her husband just one week before her shameful confession.
PE teacher Tayla Brailey, 32, last month pleaded guilty to having sex with a 17-year-old and sexually touching a 16-year-old in 2024.
Brailey has also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to access child abuse material and using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to herself.
It has since been revealed that her husband, Isaiah Rizza, who she married in 2023 after dating for five years, told her in early February he was done with their marriage, according to The Daily Telegraph.
An affidavit filed by Brailey's mother, Leanne, revealed the shamed teacher agreed to sign the divorce papers on February 24 - barely a week before she fronted Campbelltown Local Court.
Brailey, a former PE and community and family studies teacher at Lurnea High School, was arrested in August 2024.
Police alleged she began speaking to the first student after he added her on Snapchat, before they began exchanging sexually explicit videos.
She then allegedly masturbated the teen at her North Wollongong home during the school holidays, and the two spent hours making out in her spare room.
Tayla Brailey (pictured right) married her husband Isaiah Rizza (pictured left) in 2023. He asked her to sign divorce papers before she fronted court and admitted to having sex with her student
Isaiah Rizza (pictured) looked downcast as he left the courthouse in August 2024 following his wife's arrest over sexual abuse offences
Brailey, a former PE and community and family studies teacher at Lurnea High School, was arrested in August 2024
On another occasion, Brailey had unprotected sex with the student in the back of a car after he skipped school to meet her, before she went to a pharmacy to get the morning-after pill, the court heard.
Brailey also admitted to sending inappropriate and explicit messages to the teens, which included topless videos.
She claimed her behaviour was due to feeling 'off the planet with hormones' after having a contraceptive device removed.
Brailey has been living under extreme bail conditions since her arrest.
A psychological report tendered to the court showed Brailey has been seeking treatment for pre-existing bipolar disorder, the publication reported.
Despite her crimes, the former teacher has remained on good terms with her husband and family.
Her barrister argued her remorse, early plea, and mental health conditions should play into whether a full-time jail sentence was necessary.
Brailey will be sentenced later this year.
Brailey (pictured) has been living under extreme bail conditions since her arrest with revelation she is currently seeking intense treatment for pre-existing bipolar disorder