Jarred Wands: Toowoomba teacher who sexted girls loses appeal

A decision has been made in the case of a Darling Downs teacher who appealed his convictions for possessing child abuse material and indecent treatment of a child.

A former Darling Downs primary school teacher who was convicted last year of 36 child sexual offences relating to an online relationship he had with a teenage has lost his appeal.

Cambooya man Jarred Lee Wands, 28, who was conducting the relationship with the girl, 14, then living in Scotland, alleged he had suffered a “miscarriage of justice”.

Wands, who at the time of the offending in 2016 was a married Year 6 teacher, was sentenced in Toowoomba District Court last year to 30 months’ imprisonment, suspended after he had served 12 months.

It came after he was found guilty by a jury of all 36 counts, which included 33 of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16 and one each of possessing child exploitation material (CEM), using a carriage service to access CEM and using electronic communication to procure a child under the age of 16.

The court previously heard Wands told the girl he was a 20-year-old unmarried bartender named ‘Jarred Wanders’.

He would often engage in sexually explicit conversations with the child while in bed next to his sleeping wife.

Wands had denied the charges on the basis that he believed on reasonable grounds his victim was at least 16 years’ old.

Cambooya former teacher Jarrod Lee Wands, 28, was jailed last year on 36 child sexual offences relating to an online relationship he conducted with a 14-year-old girl. Generic pic by Mark Scott

Wands appealed the decision on two grounds: firstly, the “improper admission (by the trial judge) of evidence of discreditable conduct (on Wands’ behalf)” and “unfairness in the prosecutor’s closing address”, the effect of these being he suffered an alleged “miscarriage of justice”.

Regarding the first ground of appeal, Wands claimed that the Crown prosecutor’s questioning about his failure to comply with ethical standards imposed upon teachers, and enforced by the Queensland College of Teachers, “constituted cross-examination of (Wands) about his bad character without seeking the court’s approval”, as required under the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld).

However, Justices Walter Sofronoff and Debra Mullins disagreed, ruling it was Wands’ own admissions under cross-examination regarding his “bad sexual morals” which provided the evidence of Wands’ discreditable conduct, not the Crown’s line of questioning.

The second ground of appeal was also dismissed by Justices Sofronoff and Mullins.

They ruled that, although the Crown prosecutor did err in the closing address, this was remedied by a direction provided by the trial judge to the jury that they should disregard the comments.

Before he was found guilty of all charges, Wands set up his own company, Tecno Computers, an online hardware retailer.

Tecno Computers’ website advises the business is “temporarily closed”.