GUILTY: Stuart Van Dyken verdict finds school teacher committed sex act with student
Former inner west high school teacher Stuart Van Dyken is now a convicted sex offender after a judge found he asked a young student to give him oral sex in an empty classroom in 2018. READ THE JUDGE’S COMMENTS
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A former inner west high school teacher’s career is over after being found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a student who he asked to give him oral sex in an empty classroom in 2018.
Stuart Robert Van Dyken remained stony faced as he sat in the dock at Downing Centre District Court on Friday, where he became a convicted sex offender.
The Leppington man, who now faces up to eight years in jail, was arrested in the courtroom after Judge Penelope Hock convicted him of having sexual intercourse with a child under special care.
He had maintained his innocence throughout the trial and had pleaded not guilty to that offence, and a back-up charge of inciting a child over 16 to perform an act of indecency.
During the trial the court heard the 51-year-old and the girl were talking alone in his office when he shifted the conversation, and asked if she would give him oral sex “right now”, telling her to meet him in a nearby classroom.
The girl said she met Van Dyken in the empty room, felt pressured and reluctantly tried to unbutton his pants but told him she “couldn’t do it”.
She felt a “hard lump” beneath his trousers and he man stood between her and the doorway.
The court heard she tried to escape the situation, but he persisted and encouraged her.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “It didn’t look like he was going to let me out.”
After the brief act Van Dyken told her: “You can’t tell anything about this to anyone.”
“My life’s in your hands. I have children, I won’t be able to see them. My job’s in your hands.”
The court also heard how the teacher created a “sexualised environment” in class, made suggestive “mum jokes”, discussed his Tinder dates and once commented on the size of a student’s breasts.
He had hugged students, was seen to kiss the victim on the head and engaged with another pupil via text message after exchanging personal numbers with them.
Van Dyken, who denied all allegations, took to the stand where he agreed he had been in the room with the student but told the court it was because he had offered to help her with an assignment.
He labelled the girl a “drama queen” and “delusional” who had fabricated the allegations out of spite, instead saying he had told her to leave that day because she was “wasting my time”.
“If you’re not going to take this seriously, go home,” Van Dyken told the court he said.
Judge Hock found, however, that his testimony was unreliable and appeared to betray an “agenda”.
She said his credibility was impacted by “telling lies” to police about not knowing how secretly taken photos of the girl ended up stored in an locked app on his phone – to which only he knew the pin.
She also did not accept claims that the girl made up the allegations due to receiving a bad mark from Van Dyken on an assessment.
Judge Hock found the young girl, who cannot be identified, to be a credible witness.
“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this incident as described by the complainant occurred,” she said.
“I’m also satisfied the accused asked the complainant not to tell anyone as his life and career was on the line.”
Van Dyken will return to court for a sentence hearing on July 24.