Former Concordia College German teacher Bettina Schmoock pleads not guilty to child sex charge
EXCLUSIVE: This is the former teacher at a top private school who is accused of grooming a teenage pupil for sex.
A GERMAN teacher at one of Adelaide’s leading independent schools groomed a teenage pupil for sex after providing him with counselling, a court has heard.
The Advertiser can now reveal the identity of former Concordia College languages teacher Bettina Schmoock, 41, after she formally denied an aggravated child sex charge and was ordered to stand trial.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday that Schmoock, of Bellevue Heights in the southern suburbs, “abused her position of authority” as the independent school’s German teacher.
During a failed bid to maintain a ban on her identity, the court heard she was counselling the high school student when she made him “amenable to sexual activity”.
On Wednesday, she formally denied one aggravated count of making a child amenable to sexual activity at Bellevue Heights and “other places” across the state.
The Advertiser has withheld the time of the alleged offending for legal reasons.
Prosecutors say the aggravating feature of the alleged crime is that she “abused a position of authority in the community” while working at the co-educational Lutheran school in Highgate, in Adelaide’s inner southeast.
Further details of the case were not revealed in court.
When Magistrate Jayanthi McGrath asked her how she pleaded, she showed no emotion as she softly replied “not guilty, Your Honour”.
She was ordered to stand trial in the District Court at a later date.
Wednesday’s court development meant that statutory secrecy orders lapsed that had, since her arrest in August last year, banned publication of her identity.
The student is, meanwhile, awarded lifetime anonymity under state law as an alleged victim of a sexual crime, meaning no details can be published that could tend to identity him.
Michael Woods, defending, urged the magistrate to impose a fresh suppression order because naming her would bring “undue hardship” to her husband, a case witness, and their children.
He told the court that her husband had just completed his Masters teaching degree and was looking for a job in the same area and that their unique surname placed any future employment at risk.
Prosecutor Lucy Boord did not support the application while The Advertiser opposed it.
Schmoock wept as Ms McGrath ruled she was “not persuaded” by the submissions and declined to impose a fresh order.
Ms McGrath remanded her on continuing bail to face court again next month. She is subject to strict bail conditions including not contacting the alleged victim, his family or leaving the state.
Schmoock declined to comment as she left court flanked by her lawyer and a female supporter.
Concordia educates 1275 students from the Early Learning Centre up to Year 12, including International Baccalaureate. Fees range from almost $6000 to $16,080 for IB year 12 students.