Ben Fenner: Reddam House teacher sentence hearing for sex with teenage student
A teenage girl has come face-to-face with the school teacher who groomed her before having sex with her on multiple occasions when she was at her most vulnerable. In an emotional court appearance, she told how she attempted to take her own life as a result of his predatory actions.
Wentworth Courier
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A teacher at one of Sydney’s most exclusive schools who targeted and groomed a teenage student and initiated a series of sex acts has admitted he took advantage of her.
The District Court heard Ben Fenner, 35, texted sexually charged messages on WhatsApp to the Reddam House student who had been experiencing a stressful family situation.
The biology teacher told the victim “all the messages on here are encrypted which is great for secrets”.
Across a three-month period in 2018, the teacher engaged in 15 consensual sex acts with the student, often unprotected, at beaches and homes in the eastern suburbs and Central Coast.
On one occasion Fenner bought the student a sex toy and made her use it in front of him.
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In a powerful victim impact statement, the victim said the “perverted mess” and sexual abuse at the hands of her former teacher had led her to try and take her own life in 2019.
“I was going through the most stressful time of my life … (Fenner) took advantage of that,” she said.
“He should’ve stopped … he knew the rules. You have taken so much away from me, my friends and my high school experience. I am so glad I reported it before he would do it to someone else.”
Fenner did not look at the teenage victim once during the five-minute statement with the young woman eyeballing him with intensity as she returned to the public gallery.
When giving the evidence, the former teacher apologised for his criminal actions and admitted he was sexually attracted to the student. He also said he knew she was vulnerable, was prone to panic attacks and what he was doing was wrong.
The court heard the UK-born teacher had been working in a Central Coast cafe as a chef, was a qualified scuba diver instructor and had achieved high honours in scouts and the Duke of Edinburgh program.
Character references were tendered to the court by parents of other students at Reddam House, where he was stood down last June after news of his dramatic arrest at a Mascot Cafe.
The court heard the victim revealed the teacher’s conduct to police after witnessing him speak to another female student in a similar style he treated her in 2019.
The $32,000 a year school had brought in counsellors for students who were troubled by the allegations at the time.
“Since the allegation became known, we have been focused on supporting the students and minimising any impact on them and on the wider school community,” the school previously said.
Fenner will be sentenced in coming weeks.