One of Stephen Randell's victims yesterday told how the birth of her daughter three years ago prompted her to come forward with 15-year-old allegations of sexual abuse.

And the victim's mother revealed how she spent years feeling guilty that she had not protected her daughter from her grade 6 teacher.

Disgraced international cricket umpire Stephen Grant Randell, 43, was jailed for four years yesterday, with the judge saying he had used schoolgirls as his sexual playthings to satisfy his perverted lust.

He had been found guilty on Tuesday of 15 charges of indecent assault against nine girls while teaching at Marist Regional College in Burnie in 1981 and 1982.

The victim, now aged 28, said yesterday that she had decided to come forward after the birth of her daughter.

``The final straw was having my own daughter and realising how unprotected I'd been and how naive so many people around me had been when I was a child,'' she said.

``I was severely depressed and I had to stop it. I had to change my life. (Having my daughter) will make me very wary, but I'm trying to make her as independent as I can; to make her feel a safe person.

``I felt so unsafe for such a long time that I want her to feel safe living in the world.''

The victim's mother wept as she hugged her daughter and told how she also felt like a victim of Randell.

``I had my trust betrayed and I felt very guilty that I hadn't protected my daughter when I had the role of a parent,'' she said.

The victim said that her fight to regain control of her life began three and a half years ago, when she called Crime Stoppers to complain that Randell had sexually abused her as a child.

``It was a case of one person's word against another person's word, so it couldn't go any further,'' she said.

``But then I remembered a witness that I had and I tried to find her, and I couldn't find her, but in looking for her, it dug up a lot of other people.''

She said that her sexual abuse had affected her physical relationships.

``I separated from my partner, who is still a good friend and very supportive, but it has made it very hard for me and the others to have a relationship and maintain that relationship,'' she said.

``Everyone (other victims) has been coping in their own way, some people have been very emotionally volatile, some people have been reclusive.''

The victim said that the four-year jail term was appropriate under the current laws, but wants other options, such as compulsory assessment and treatment, to be examined.

Randell will serve his sentence at Risdon as a prisoner needing maximum protective security. He will probably be placed in E Yard, which holds sexual offenders and others thought to be at risk from other prisoners.

Randell was yesterday sacked by the Education Department from his position as a Hobart primary school teacher.

Stephen Randell's crimes were serious paedophilia, judge Peter Underwood said yesterday.

Randell, 43, formerly of Norma St, Howrah, was emotionless yesterday as Supreme Court judge Peter Underwood sentenced him to four years' jail.

The maximum penalty for indecent assault is 21 years' jail. Randell was found guilty on 15 counts of indecent assault after he sexually abused nine schoolgirls 18 years ago.

As Justice Underwood handed down his sentence, Randell's wife Angela and his father Donald sat in a packed public gallery, and one of his victims hugged her mother in the back of the court.

Justice Underwood said that Randell ingratiated himself with the parents of his victims in order to gain their confidence and trust, which he then betrayed by going into children's bedrooms to sexually assault them.

``The manner in which you committed these assaults, both in the classroom and in the bedrooms, was so brazen that it indicates that you felt free to treat these children as your sexual playthings, perhaps in the belief that they would feel too ashamed, embarrassed or awkward to speak out against you at a time when society was not ready to accept the word of a child that a person in your position had perpetrated such criminal conduct.

``These crimes are to be regarded as serious paedophilia ... you actively fostered and encouraged the children and their parents to trust you and you grossly breached that trust by indecently assaulting the former in order to satisfy your perverted sexual lust.''

Justice Underwood said that the community expected the court to protect young children by handing down sentences that would send a clear message to others.

``I also accept that the effect of these proceedings upon your wife and family has been nothing short of devastating and one cannot help but feel great sympathy for them, for they are also the innocent victims of your criminal conduct.''

A report by State forensic psychiatrist Dr Ian Sale stated that Randell's sexual conduct was not typical of a true paedophile, as his behaviour merely suggested ``boundary violations'' and he had not actively ``sought out, cultivated and seduced vulnerable children''. But Justice Underwood said in his judgment that while he respected Dr Sale's opinion, Randell's crimes were serious paedophilia and were not isolated impulsive acts.