[4] At an all-girls academy in Australia, a married philosophy professor, Justin Thorne, attracts a fervent admirer in one of his students, Jennifer Carter.

A journal she has been keeping, fantasizing about a lover, makes it appear that she and the professor have been carrying on a long affair, placing Thorne's reputation and future in grave danger.

After Thorne is found guilty in a jury trial it emerges that Jennifer's father has been sexually abusing her over some considerable time, and pesters her once again.

The film was based on the play Assault With a Deadly Weapon which was written in 1969 by Lance Peters.

It had been suggested by a 1955 scandal in Hobart, where university professor Sydney Orr had been sacked from his job on grounds of gross misconduct.