NSW primary and high school teachers deregistered because of crimes

These are the disgraced NSW primary and high school teachers whose criminal behaviour over the past two years landed them before a court. Read the full list.

Teachers hold a special position of trust within our communities.

But the criminal actions of a small handful of teachers leave a lasting impression on communities for all the wrong reasons.

According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), 39 teachers had their accreditation revoked in 2020 and 2021 for misconduct — sometimes, but not always, involving a criminal matter.

“There are a range of reasons that teachers can lose their accreditation, including criminal charges, as well as misconduct or a breach of their professional obligations,” the NESA spokeswoman said.

“Any criminal charges that result in the loss of Working with Children Check clearance leads to immediate removal of accreditation.”

Recent NSW Government amendments to the Teacher Accreditation Act will introduce additional measures, including a ‘fit and proper person’ assessment, by 2023.

“These changes … will improve NESA’s capacity to respond to any criminal matters that may make a teacher unsuitable to teach,” the spokeswoman said.

Here are some of the most egregious recent cases of teacher misconduct.

David Macpherson – solicited child abuse material

David Macpherson

David Macpherson, a casual teacher at Ambarvale High School in Sydney’s south west, sent sexually explicit messages to an investigator posing as a 14-year-old girl.

The Woodbine man worked as a casual teacher after he retired as the school’s deputy principal.

He pleaded guilty to six charges, including one count of using a carriage service to groom an person aged under 16 for sex and two counts of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.

In September 2020, a police officer from the Child Exploitation internet Unit assumed the online identity (AOI) of a 14-year-old girl.

Macpherson sent messages to AOI asking if she would sexually touch herself. He then proceeded to give detailed and explicit instructions on how to masturbate for over an hour, a court heard.

Court documents state he also wrote a story which described, in vivid detail, two people aged under 18 engaged in sexual activity. He sent this story to three people.

A court heard when Macpherson was arrested, his phone was open and unlocked, revealing a picture of an underage female in underwear.

In April of this year, Macpherson was sentenced to a non-parole period of two years and six months.

Alexander Simpson – soliciting child abuse material

Alexander Simpson

A teacher in one of Sydney’s most exclusive private schools pleaded guilty to sending indecent material to a minor and soliciting child abuse material.

Padstow Heights man Alexander Simpson, once taught at Trinity Grammar School in Sydney’s inner west.

But in April 2020, using the alias ‘Sydney man’, he started speaking with a 13-year-old girl called Anna on Chatiw and Skype.

Little did he know Anna was actually an undercover cop.

On August 27 2020, police arrested Simpson at Trinity Grammar and “paraded” him in handcuffs to the police car, in front of students and parents.

Judge Leonie Flannery SC told the court Simpson’s offences were “very serious” because they “exploit the vulnerability of youth and inappropriately sexualise young people”.

Simpson was convicted and sentenced to a two year prison sentence, to be served in the community. He now works as a tradie.

Anthony Pearsall – sexually touching students

Anthony Pearsall. Picture: Daniel McGookin

For more than four decades, three women carried the secrets of this man’s actions.

Anthony Charles Pearsall, a former teacher at Clemton Park School, confessed to sexually touching three students, aged between 10 and 12, in the mid-1970s.

Pearsall pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an act of indecency on a minor when he was a married teacher in his early 20s.

A court heard how Pearsall took three students down to a basement and sports storage room, and kissed them.

He also led one victim away from the other students and touched her chest area, before moving his hands down towards her groin on top of her clothes.

In June 2021, some of Pearsall’s victims told the court about the “shame and guilt” they felt over his actions.

On September 9, 2021, Judge Ian McClintock convicted Pearsall and sentenced him to four concurrent Community Corrections Orders spanning three years.

Monica Young – sexually assaulting teenage student

Monica Young

A 24-year-old teacher was sent behind bars after she pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated sexual assault with a 14-year-old boy.

Monica Young, of Greenacre, was 23 and soon to be married when she snagged her first full time job in 2020 at a Sydney school.

Just three months later, Young began grooming her victim. She shared messages and calls with him on Snapchat before physically abusing him.

The pair met multiple times — in and outside of school.

The beginning of the end came when the victim’s mum read his phone messages. She saw a selfie Young took from her bed, which said: “I’m waiting for you”.

Judge Kate Traill told the court Young “manipulated” and “preyed upon” the victim.

“She must have known it was criminally and morally wrong … she exploited his vulnerability and manipulated him,” Judge Traill said.

Young was sentenced to four years and nine months behind bars. She is eligible for parole in October 2023.

Nick Warby – possessing child abuse material

Nick Warby. Picture: Bianca De Marchi.

The head of swimming at an elite Sydney private school was busted with horrific images of child abuse — so graphic the details cannot be printed.

Former Knox Grammar teacher Nick Warby likened the rush of looking at child abuse material to taking a hit of ice.

According to court documents read out at his sentencing, Warby’s sickening description of his first experience looking at child abuse material was “I lit up, it was like the first time I drank or did ice”.

Warby’s trove of child abuse material was only uncovered by chance in August 2019 when he left his phone at the pool to change clothes for a Knox Grammar promotional video.

A colleague who scrolled through the phone attempting to figure out who owned it stumbled across the graphic images and reported them to police.

Child abuse detectives would go on to find 3400 images and videos on five devices Warby owned.

Warby pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material and was jailed for two years and four months in September 2020.

David Leishman – aggravated sexual touching

David Leishman.

High school teacher David Leishman, of Blaxland, was jailed over the sexual touching of a student.

Leishman has pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual touching and one count of assault with an act of indecency.

According to court documents, the former teacher developed a close relationship with his victim at school and texted her several times. He also expressed his love for her in a series of letters and cards.

Shortly after his arrest, another girl came forward about an incident where he kissed her on the lips in a school hall.

In March 2021, Leishman was sentenced to one year behind bars. He initially appealed the length of his sentence but withdrew this appeal in April 2021.

Gavin Duncan – sexual intercourse with student

A Katoomba High School teacher had sex with a female student three times and told her to wear a skirt so he could “f*** her in the classroom”, a court heard.

Gavin Duncan, pleaded guilty to three counts of having sexual intercourse with a person in his care.

Police said Duncan would speak to the student about school and personal issues, including relationships, as their conversations became more “flirtatious”.

At one point, Duncan paid for an Uber to drop the student off at his Glenmore Park home so they could have sex. As the teen left his home, Duncan told her to wear a skirt to school the next day so he could “f*** her in the classroom”.

The pair continued their sexual relationship after the student turned 18 and graduated from school.

But soon rumours about their relationship began to spread and Duncan was approached by the school principal. He subsequently told the teen to deny their relationship.

Duncan was suspended from the school after confessing to a fellow teacher who then contacted police. He was sentenced to 15 months behind bars in 2020.

Ben Fenner — sexually abused student

Ben Fenner.

An illegal relationship with a student landed a biology teacher at one of Sydney’s most exclusive private schools behind bars.

Ben Fenner, who taught at Bondi’s Reddam House, pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under his care.

A court heard how the college encouraged senior students to contact teachers out of hours for educational support, with one of these conversations turning sexual when Fenner asked the student about love bites he had seen on her.

The pair subsequently engaged in 15 consensual sex acts – often unprotected, at beaches and homes in the eastern suburbs and Central Coast in 2018.

The first time the pair had sex, Fenner picked the teen up from her home and took her to his place, while on another occasion he picked her up from a fellow student’s party and the pair engaged in sex acts at a beach near Rose Bay.

Fenner pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under his care. He was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment in October 2020, which was later reduced to three years on appeal.

Mark Richards — groomed teenage student

Mark Richards.

A Riverina school employee sent pictures of himself masturbating and of his sex toy collection to a student on Snapchat.

Mark Richards, 41, pleaded guilty at Wagga Wagga District Court to eight offences, including grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity, aggravated sexual intercourse with child (aged between 14 and 16) and possession of a prohibited weapon.

According to court documents, Richards met the victim when he was coach of an all-girls school sport team. He then began messaging her on Snapchat.

In August 2019, the victim’s mum discovered the messages and had an apprehended violence order put in place but the pair continued speaking through an online game on social media.

On one occasion Richards began interrogating the 15-year-old girl about an age-appropriate male friend and when told the victim hadn’t been sexually intimate, he said: “Good because it’s such a precious thing that I want”.

In court, Judge Gordon Lerve said Richards’ position of trust made the crimes more serious.

“The offender’s conduct was extremely persistent and involved not only the messages, the photographs and the videos but also included purchasing gifts,” he said.

“The age difference was in the order of 25 years and … the offender became jealous when the victim began to socialise with age appropriate males.”

Richards was sentenced to six years and six months with a non-parole period of four years and four months. He will be eligible for parole in 2025.

Stuart Van Dyken — sexual intercourse with student

Stuart Van Dyken.

A management consultant turned inner west teacher encouraged a student to perform oral sex on him in an empty classroom.

In 2020, Leppington local Stuart Van Dyken was found guilty of having sex with a child under his special care and inciting a child over 16 to perform an act of indecency.

A court heard Van Dyken was talking, alone in his office, with the victim when the conversation shifted — he asked if she would give him oral sex “right now” and told her to meet him a nearby classroom.

When the victim tried to escape from that classroom, Van Dyken persisted and encouraged her.

Afterwards he said, “My life’s in your hands. I have children, I won’t be able to see them. My job’s in your hands,” a court heard.

At Downing Centre District Court, Judge Penelope Hock said Van Dyken coerced the victim.

“He was a person … (the victim was) entitled to look for guidance and protection and he grossly abused the trust placed in him as a schoolteacher,” Judge Hock said.

The court heard Van Dyken also possessed a folder of clandestine photos he had hidden in a locked folder on his phone.

These photos, accessible only by a passcode, held intimate images of women taken without their knowledge, including photos of the student victim.Katie Smith — relationship with student

In August 2020, Van Dyken was sentenced to three years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 18 months.

Katie Smith - relationship with a student

Katie Smith.

A Hunter PE teacher never wanted to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old student, instead she just wanted to be told she was pretty, a court has heard.

When 26-year-old teacher Katie Smith’s marriage broke down with her husband she engaged in a secret relationship with a 14-year-old student in late 2018.

Police facts detail how Smith befriended the student on Snapchat, and “blurred the boundaries” between teacher and student.

Within a week, the pair were exchanging sexually explicit images and videos.

This led to secret meetups, including a storeroom on school grounds and at a carpark during the Christmas holidays.

Smith and the young boy kissed and fondled on those occasions, the court heard

Smith has pleaded guilty to grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity, indecent assault of a person under 16 and intentionally sexually touching a child aged between 10 and 16 at Newcastle District Court.

In September 2020, Smith was sentenced to three years and 10 months jail with a non-parole period of two years and three months.