Anthony Pearsall: Clemton Park School historic sex offences sentence

For more than four decades three women preyed on by their teacher have been burdened by a heavy secret. Now, the man responsible is facing justice for his crimes.

For more than four decades, three women have been burdened by a heavy secret as the man they once trusted flourished through life.

Anthony Charles Pearsall, a former teacher at Clemton Park School, has confessed to sexually preying on three of his students in the mid-1970s.

Now a grandfather and retiree, Pearsall pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an act of indecency on a minor which included the touching of a girl’s chest area when he was a married teacher in his early 20s.

Anthony Charles Pearsall.

One of the victims told Sydney District Court on Thursday she didn’t tell a soul of the sexual assault when it took place, saying she felt a combination of “guilt, fear and shame” with the attack impacting on her professional and personal life in the years to come.

“The passage of time since the assault hasn’t been a time of healing,” she said.

A second victim of Pearsall said she felt her potential was ruined as a result of the assault, telling the court she felt ashamed and began the use of cannabis and alcohol as an 11-year-old.

“Had I not been exposed to something way too young … I could’ve gone to be anything I wanted,” she said.

Lawyer Greg Walsh, representing Pearsall, said it was accepted the impact of the crimes had been “quite significant” on the victims and hoped the plea of guilty served as a form of vindication.

He said the acts didn’t involve force, threats or touching of the victim’s genitalia.

“(Pearsall) accepts the wrong doing that he did to them .... as one of the victim’s said, the world now knows of Pearsall’s conduct,” he said.

The court heard the 69-year-old man pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the late 1970s for inciting a person to commit an act of indecency. About that time he made the choice to leave the teaching profession to begin work with his wife’s family glass business.

Mr Walsh asked the court to spare his client a jail sentence and said a community corrections order would be an appropriate punishment.

Pearsall will be sentenced by Judge Ian McClintock in September.