A mom from Australia has avoided the stress of homeschooling her kids by returning to jail.
Zara Xenitopoulos, 40, of Kingsville, Melbourne, will remain in prison in order to avoid homeschooling her children, which has previously ignited a spiral into drugs and crime.
As Dail Mail reports, the mom-of-five told Heidelberg Magistrates Court that in early 2020 she “relapsed” on meth and committed several property crimes to fund her revived habit. According to her defense lawyer, Sam Norton, her actions were triggered by the pressures of homeschooling her kids.
The court allegedly heard the mother’s series of crimes were only “recent,” following her father’s death in 2014, and her brother’s passing in 2016.
Xenitopoulos pleaded guilty to several property offenses.
In one case, the mom-of-five stole 21 Asus laptops from St Charles Borromeo Catholic Primary School in Templestowe and sold them, keeping three of them for her kids. In another, she was involved in a fraudulent purchase of a $10,000 mountain bike from Yarra Valley Cycles at Lilydale.
According to the Herald Sun, Norton said:
“The offending all has that look of drug-type offending … obtaining finances to put towards the purchase of drugs.”
The attorney added that his client, who has been in jail for one month, used the time to get clean and reconsider her future.
Furthermore, Magistrate Dominic Lennon noted that Xenitopoulos has an “unusual criminal history.” He said that in the past, she had been arrested for several short stints but reoffended soon after being released each time.
The mother-of-five is expected to be sentenced at the end of September.
