Cairns teacher Greg Norman fronts court on child abuse charges
A teacher from Redlynch has been charged with more than 200 child sex offences involving at least 24 girls after 260,000 exploitation images were allegedly found on his electronic devices.
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A teacher from Redlynch has been charged with more than 200 child sex offences involving at least 24 girls after 260,000 exploitation images were allegedly found on his electronic devices.
Detectives arrested 35-year-old Greg Norman after allegedly finding additional child exploitation material on his electronic devices on November 18 after Cairns Child Protection and Investigation Unit detectives executed a search warrant and seizing electronic devices belonging to Mr Norman on November 10.
Mr Norman applied for bail in court on Monday before a packed galley of parents and relatives of the alleged victims.
Police prosecutor Megan Howard said Mr Norman was an unacceptable risk to the community and police had so far allegedly found 260,000 child exploitation images on his electronic devices where they have so far identified 24 children victims.
Magistrate Sandra Pearson said that a man “displaying this kind of ongoing and persistent behaviour would be seen as a risk to the community”.
In considering his bail application she said that he may also face an element of retribution and presented a “risk of self-harm to himself.”
While she acknowledged that the man did not appear to commit any new offences since November 11 and had no criminal history, she regarded the Crown case against him as strong and said “the conduct could only be described as ‘abhorrent’ in refusing bail.
Mr Norman is scheduled to appear again in Cairns Magistrates Court on February 2, 2024.
Police say their forensic investigation of his devices has not yet concluded.
At a press conference on Monday, Inspector Jason Chetham said that while the police investigation was ongoing, they believed the 24 complainants so far identified “were likely to be the entirety” of the alleged offending.
He had previously been charged with three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two counts of possessing child exploitation material.
New charges include 26 counts of taking a child for an immoral purpose, seven counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, 61 counts of involving a child in making child exploitation material, 42 counts of making child exploitation material and 64 counts of indecent treatment.
On November 13 the school Mr Norman worked at sent an email to all parents and caregivers confirming staff and students witnessed the arrest of Mr Norman on school grounds.
“First and foremost, I want to reassure you that we treat the safety and welfare of your children, our students, as our highest priority at all times,” the school stated.
“While I appreciate your desire to understand the specifics of this matter, I’m sure you would understand that I am unable to go into any detail for legal reasons.”
The teacher also worked as a coach at Fusion Fight and Fitness, but has not been employed by the gym for a number of years, co-owner Garrett Maunder said.
“He has not been employed with us for a couple of years,” he said.
Investigations are ongoing and police are providing support to those involved.
Originally published as Cairns teacher Greg Norman fronts court on child abuse charges
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