Bevan Wilson was a footy scout, teacher and lecturer – but behind it all he was abusing a young boy

The popular teacher, Port Adelaide footy coach and Flinders lecturer cultivated a “number-one Dad” air – but behind his eccentric appearance lay an evil secret.

Bevan Wilson surrounded himself with teenage boys, his eccentric attire and role as a scout for the Port Adelaide Football Club under-19 and -17 teams drawing them close.

But for one boy, Wilson’s attentions hid a darker desire that led to the 12-year-old being abused dozens of times over almost three years.

Wilson was described as having a “Bill Cosby” air to him – painting himself as a “number-one dad” figure around the inner-suburban high school he taught at in the mid-1990s.

During a District Court trial, his victim – now aged in his 30s – described Wilson, 72, as a “funny, jovial person” whom he liked straight away.

But when asked to look back on the offending, the victim said he still felt stuck at the age he had been when the abuse started.

“I’m thinking back from a little kid’s mind and I still feel trapped as a little kid from what he’s done to me,” the victim said.

District Court Judge Jane Schammer heard Wilson, who also goes by Bevin, lived a double life over those years of abuse.

During the day in the first year, he taught PE and other classes at high school.

But when he was alone with the boy, he became a sexual predator who finally would be undone because of two distinct characteristics – a birth mark on his chest and his unusually small penis.

Social media photos of Bevan Wilson aka Bevin Wilson who was found guilty of abusing a student at an inner-suburban high school.

A key aspect of the trial was the victim’s ability to identify those physical characteristics.

Wilson tried to explain away the identification, telling the court he had sometimes taken his shirt off around students when he was a teacher and they had seen his birthmark.

As for his distinctive genitalia, Wilson said he had told the victim during a later conversation that he was uncircumcised.

Judge Schammer found the victim had “esoteric” knowledge of the physical characteristics that had no explanation other than the long-term abuse of the victim.

The court heard that, at weekends, Wilson was heavily associated with several football clubs.

He was most well-known around the Port Adelaide Magpies where he was both a coach and a scout for various teams.

“He was a member of the Port Adelaide SANFL footy club and he’d always dress up in a black-and-white Port Adelaide tie, a black suit, white shirt,” the victim said. “He’d be dressed to the nines.”

Another witness told the court Wilson was a scout for Port Adelaide and Glenelg and would often drop in for lunch with “some of the lads” who were aged around 15.

Social media photos of Bevan Wilson aka Bevin Wilson who was found guilty of abusing a student at an inner-suburban high school.

Bevan Wilson, a former teacher, has been found guilty of abusing a student at the school. Picture: Facebook

A third witness said “the junior players would hang around with the accused at the grounds and some of them could be as young as 15”.

Wilson and his victim gave differing stories over how they met. It was not in dispute that the victim was a student at the school but was never taught by Wilson.

The victim also readily admitted that he came from a difficult background and had been arrested for breaking into a house to try to feed himself and his brothers.

Wilson told the court he had been sent by another teacher to bring the victim back to school after he stole the teacher’s handbag.

The victim denied that he had stolen the handbag and said Wilson had seen him truanting from school and had driven him back.

Judge Schammer said in her published judgment that she did not believe Wilson’s claims and found the victim had been telling the truth.

Former teacher and Flinders Uni lecturer Bevan Wilson has been found guilty of abusing a former student. Picture: Facebook.

Social media photos of Bevan Wilson aka Bevin Wilson who was found, guilty of abusing a student at an inner-suburban high school.

Wilson started letting the victim use his canteen account to buy lunch. He also found odd jobs for the young boy to do around the school.

It was while the victim was helping him clean a storage room off the art room that the abuse began.

Wilson started visiting the victim’s house every Saturday, when he would chat with the boy’s mother while her children washed his car.

Wilson had come from a school in the Riverland, where he had taught for 14 years.

He told Judge Schammer that, in the country, teachers acted differently than in the city.

“We were more community-minded up there, so it was nothing for me to go and see a

parent after hours, especially if there were major problems,” he said.

Over the next three years, Wilson would take the boy on drives and occasionally stay overnight with him at houses across Adelaide where the abuse continued.

One incident happened in a car parked at Flinders University, where Wilson was then a lecturer and tutor. He has since left that job.

Wilson was found guilty at trial of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with the victim. He will face sentencing submissions at a date to be set.