Ben Weldon: Caringbah teacher’s common assault charges dismissed

A former south Sydney teacher has assault charges against girls dismissed under mental health grounds.

Benjamin Weldon, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of common assault on teenage girls, and made a mental health application in Sutherland Local Court on Monday. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A former Sutherland Shire teacher has successfully had his charges of assault committed against three girls dismissed on mental health grounds.

Benjamin Weldon, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of common assault on teenage girls, while two charges of intentionally sexually touching a child were withdrawn.

A mental health application was made in Sutherland Local Court on Monday.

The application allows a magistrate to dismiss a charge and discharge the defendant into the care of a responsible person, to treatment or rehabilitation, or without conditions rather than being dealt with according to law.

If a magistrate dismisses a charge under Section 14, it does not necessarily indicate the charge against the defendant is proven or otherwise.

Benjamin Weldon during a previous court appearance.

Agreed facts tendered to court said Weldon was working as a teacher at a Caringbah school and living at Condell Park while the victims were all aged under 13.

Detectives began investigating Weldon after they received a report involving one of the girls, and all three were interviewed.

The documents state Weldon approached the first victim and suggested he wanted to try a new game with her before he took her hands and tried to push her over.

Later that year, Weldon positioned himself behind his second victim while she walked out of a room and he crouched down and tried to put a bulldog clip on the bottom of her shorts, the documents state.

According to the court documents, Weldon failed to attach the clip but his hand came into contact with her bottom over the outside of her shorts, making her uncomfortable before she quickly walked away.

The third victim was also present and Weldon knelt down behind the girl and attempted to attach a bulldog clip to the bottom of her shorts but was unsuccessful, and in the process his hand made contact with her thigh area.

Weldon’s charges were dismissed in Sutherland Local Court.

The girl also told investigators Weldon said to her on another occasion, “I love you and care for you”.

“You don’t want to ruin your modelling career. You are beautiful,” the documents said.

Weldon corroborated large parts of the girls’ versions during a police interview, including the touching and failed attempts to clip the shorts.

He denied saying the phrases to the third victim, instead claiming he spoke to her in the context of encouraging her sporting achievements and said, “I love that you are doing this, this is great work”, the documents said.

In court, Magistrate Jillian Kiely accepted Weldon had been diagnosed with mental health conditions, mainly acute anxiety disorder, suffered from panic attacks, depression and had impaired function due to stresses in his life.

Ms Kiely also noted Weldon was a person of prior good character, with no criminal record, and had sought psychological treatment and was taking medication.

The court heard Weldon had decided not to return to his career as a teacher “despite his love of it” and had moved to the south coast where he was caring for his parents and they were supporting him.

Ms Kiely noted the offences “fell well below the mid range of objective seriousness”.

She noted Weldon appeared to have trying to be “playful” and making the environment less stressful, adding he appeared to have been “misguided” in his interactions when he made the children “uncomfortable”.

Ms Kiely accepted there was a “casual nexus” between Weldon’s mental conditions and his conduct, adding Weldon has been “labouring under a mental health and overwhelming work stresses”.

She accepted Weldon’s risk of reoffending was “very low” and the treatment plan was tailored to his needs.

Ms Kiely accepted the mental health application, ordered him to be in discharged into the care of his doctor to undertake a treatment plan with medication for 12 months; and the charges were dismissed.