Stuart Van Dyken: Teacher allegedly told girl to keep sex act secret
A court has heard how an inner west high school teacher allegedly tried to comfort a girl he had asked to give him oral sex before telling her to “not tell anyone”. He denies the allegations.
Inner West
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An inner west high school teacher allegedly begged a teenage girl not to utter a word of how he had asked her to perform a sex act on him, telling her his life was in her hands.
Stuart Robert Van Dyken is on trial for allegedly encouraging the student to perform oral sex on him in an empty classroom in late 2018, an accusation he denies.
Van Dyken has pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse with a child under special care, and to an alternate charge of inciting a child over 16 under care to perform an act of indecency.
On day two of his District Court trial the complainant’s prerecorded evidence was played before Judge Helen Syme, who heard the girl was left “disgusted” and promised not to tell anyone.
Prosecutors allege the 51-year-old and the girl were talking alone after hours in his office when he shifted the conversation to sex, and asked if she would give him oral sex “right now”, telling her to meet him in another room.
The girl said after meeting Van Dyken in the empty room, she reluctantly tried to unbutton his pants but “couldn’t do it”.
She felt a “hard lump” beneath his trousers and the Leppington man stood between her and the doorway.
The court heard she tried to escape the situation, but he allegedly persisted.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “It didn’t look like he was going to let me out.
“I just thought to get it over with and get out.”
The girl told of how Van Dyken encouraged her to carry out the act before she got on her knees and he initiated the oral sex act.
“I can’t do this,” she said before backing away, the court heard.
Van Dyken allegedly began asking the girl if “she was OK”, the court heard, and told her she “can’t tell anyone” about what had happened.
“You can’t tell anything about this to anyone,” the court heard Van Dyken allegedly said.
“My life’s in your hands. I have children, I won’t be able to see them. My job’s in your hands.”
The girl held her silence for some time before confessing to her parents on a family holiday, the court heard.
Van Dyken, who was stood down after the allegations were aired, had a reputation at school as a “fun” teacher who traded “mum jokes” with students in class, the court heard.
The girl also claimed she once heard him talking to students about work colleagues he would “like to bang”.
The trial continues.