Caringbah teacher Ben Weldon admits assaulting three children

A Sydney teacher has admitted to assaulting three young girls after charges of sexually touching the children were dropped.

Teacher Benjamin Weldon, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of common assault on teenage students at Caringbah North Public School. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A Sydney primary school teacher has admitted to assaulting three children.

Benjamin Weldon, 35, pleaded guilty to three counts of common assault on teenage girls when he appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday.

Two charges of intentionally sexually touching a child were withdrawn.

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

Detectives began investigating Weldon after they received a report involving one of the girls.

Weldon was carrying out his duty as a teacher at the time of the assaults. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

The victim was interviewed in August 2022 and the other two girls were interviewed the following day.

The documents said Weldon approached the first victim and suggested he wanted to try a new game with her.

He motioned for her to take hold of his hands, which she did, then he explained the point of the game was to touch the front of the other person’s knee.

He motioned towards her but did not touch her knee.

Later that day, Weldon said to the girl he wanted to play another game where 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, the documents said.

He was holding a bulldog clip in his hand and when the girl reached the door, she saw him crouch down and try to put the clip on the bottom of her shorts.

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.

Weldon’s third victim was present at the time and, when she reached the front of the room, Weldon knelt down behind the girl again and reached up with one hand.

He attempted to attach a bulldog clip to the bottom of her shorts but failed, and in the process his hand made contact with the girl’s thigh area.

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.

Benjamin Weldon, 35, has admitted to assaulting three of his female students while they were under his care, a court has heard. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

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”.

In court, Magistrate Phillip Stewart agreed to vary Weldon’s bail conditions allowing him to no longer report to police once a week, delete a curfew condition, return the surety amount of $5000 and delete his phone restriction.

Weldon must still live at his address in Huskisson, not approach any of the victims and be of good behaviour.

Weldon must complete a sentence assessment report including a psychosexual report ahead of being sentenced on April 11.