Chelsea Jane Edwards, a former teacher at Indooroopilly State High School in Brisbane, was initially charged in March 2023 with two counts of grooming and a single count of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

In January last year, she was committed to stand trial in the District Court on the two grooming charges following a hearing at Brisbane Magistrates Court.

The charge of indecent treatment was dropped at the same hearing due to a dispute over the time a photo at the centre of the charge was taken.

But Ms Edwards’ case will no longer proceed after prosecutors revealed they had discontinued all charges.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) can confirm that the matter was discontinued after a consideration of all the admissible evidence when it was determined that there were not reasonable prospects of securing a conviction on either charge,” the ODPP said in a statement.

Ms Edwards declined to comment through her lawyer Alex Somers, of Nyst Legal.

Her teaching registration was suspended by the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) – the state’s statutory authority that regulates teachers – when the charges were first laid.

Ms Edwards’ registration still remains suspended, according to the QCT’s public registry.

During the committal hearing in January 2024, the court was told the prosecution’s case against Ms Edwards included an alleged email she drafted to herself where she detailed her growing feelings for the teenager.

“All the acts after are done through the lens (of Ms Edwards wanting a relationship),” Crown prosecutor Hannah Mangione told Brisbane’s Magistrates Court.

“In that email she is saying how fond of the child she is … it goes to her sexual interest and her state of mind at the time.”

Ms Mangione said the email allegedly foreshadowed Ms Edwards’ actions in the months that followed when she joined the same gym the child was attending.

Mr Somers said there was little or no evidence of any intent to groom the child – telling the court a “personal friendship” developed between the pair after the boy turned 16.

“In the boy’s statement, a month after he turned 16, a conversation occurred … about his feelings for her,” he said.

Mr Somers said the boy’s statement went on to claim he told Ms Edwards he found her attractive but that she appeared hesitant.

“It progressed to kissing later, which he initiated,” Mr Somers said.

“He disagrees that the defendant has been predatory at any time and denies he was taken advantage of.”