Crimes of NSW teachers that shocked school communities

Over the past year, NSW school communities have been rocked after current or former teachers landed in court. Hear the crimes that left students, parents and schools devastated.

School communities across NSW have been rocked by the shocking actions that have seen teachers appear in court over the past year.

From the young female teacher who engaged in sexual acts with a teenage student to the former teacher jailed for historic sexual offences in the late 60s, here are some of the crimes that have devastated staff and students across the state.

Sydney teacher jailed for historic sexual abuse charges

A former boarding master at St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill has been jailed for historic child sexual abuse.

In November 2021 John Patrick O’Brien, 81, was sentenced to seven years and nine months imprisonment.

It came after he was found guilty in April of 18 offences against a range of boys between 1968 and 1970.

O’Brien committed the offences between 1968 and 1970 at St Joseph's College in Hunters Hill.

They included 11 counts of committing acts of indecency or attempting to procure acts of indecency and seven counts of indecent assault.

The court heard that O’Brien, who was in his late 20s and early 30s during the offending, would often tell students, aged 14 and 15, who were housed in the dormitory that he needed “help” with a medical issue including cramps.

There were also instances of them being woken to O’Brien standing over their beds, the court heard.

Judge Hunt said the victims were vulnerable as they were being accommodated in a boarding school away from their parents and were under the authority of O’Brien.

O’Brien will be eligible for parole in April 2026.

Sydney teacher called himself “daddy Knowles”

Daniel Mark Knowles, a Sydney teacher who had a stint working in the UK, was jailed for sending his underage former students explicit images and videos of him having sex with his wife calling himself “daddy Knowles”.

In September 2020, Mr Knowles was sentenced to three years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 months after pleading guilty to two counts of using a phone to send indecent material to a person under 16-years-old and one count of using a phone to solicit child pornography.

The 31-year-old teacher was working in England’s south west as a geography and English teacher in 2017. Back in Australia, he struck up conversations over social media with two former students, sending photographs of himself naked and a video of a woman giving him oral sex in a bathroom.

Teacher Daniel Knowles was jailed for sending sexual photos and videos to his former UK students. Picture: Dylan Coker

At a sleepover the two girls told each other about the messages and a group chat with Knowles was created and called “Daddy Knowles & His Naughty Girls”, where more material was sent.

He was eventually exposed when one of the girls became distressed by the content and alerted someone.

One of the girls, who lives in the UK, told a court she has “scars that will never fade”.

In sentencing him, Judge Jane Culver told the court he had “exploited a position of trust for sexual gratification”.

Sydney teacher kissed students in basement

A teacher who led primary school-aged children to a dark basement and kissed them in the 1970s avoided jail.

Clemton Park Primary School teacher Anthony Charles Pearsall blamed immaturity for the indecent assaults of three female students aged between 10 and 12.

The 69-year-old of Woolooware, who pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault of a minor, was sentenced to a good behaviour bond on September 9 2021.

Judge Ian McClintock said Mr Pearsall was a schoolteacher who had abused his position of trust repeatedly.

The court heard Mr Pearsall was married and in his early 20s when he took three students down to a basement and sports storage room at the Earlwood school and kissed them with an open mouth.

With one victim, he touched her chest area before moving his hands down towards her groin and touching on top of her clothes, the court heard.

With another victim, Pearsall had asked for help to find a key to the sports room, before leading her down to the basement and kissing her with an open mouth.

During a sentence hearing in June 2021, some victims told of the “shame and guilt” they felt over the incidents.

Mr Pearsall was arrested over the offences in 2019 after 45 years without a criminal conviction.

The court heard Mr Pearsall was suspended from teaching in the late 70s after being sentenced to a four year good behaviour bond and fined for inciting a female to perform an act of indecency.

Female teacher jailed for sexual acts with teen

A 24-year-old woman was imprisoned after pleading guilty to three charges of aggravated sexual assault with a 14-year-old boy.

Monica Young, 24, was sentenced in July 2021 at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court to four years and nine months jail – with a non-parole period of two years and five months.

Young’s offences were unveiled at her various court appearances, where police said she communicated with the teen via Snapchat.

She used the social media service to initially send him pictures of her breasts and vagina, leading to the pair meeting up for sex including on and off the school grounds.

Monica Young was jailed for sexually assaulting a high school student. Picture: Nikki Short

Young was 23 and engaged to another man when she began grooming the teenager several months after arriving to work at the all boys school in 2020.

“When it was identified that Snapchat was being used to communicate with the complainant, (Young) continued her use of that service by presenting herself under an assumed name so she could continue to have sexual interactions with the complainant,” the police prosecutor said at Bankstown Local Court in July 2020.

“We can see in the interactions her becoming aware of the circumstances and she has continued to attempt to communicate with the complainant.”

The abuse was eventually exposed by the boy’s aunt who followed the pair to a parking lot.

During the sentence, Judge Kate Traill described Young’s actions as an “egregious” breach of the victims trust and said she manipulated the victim.

Blue Mountains teacher jailed for sexual touching

A former high school teacher was jailed over the sexual touching of a student.

David Leishman, 50, of Blaxland, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexually touching a person and one count of assault with an act of indecency in December last year.

Leishman was sentenced to 12 months jail with a non parole period of nine months.

According to court documents, Leishman developed a close relationship with his victim at school and texted her several times.

Leishman kissed the girl for about 30 seconds in one incident in the staffroom, and groped her breasts and buttocks in two other incidents.

The girl later told her parents about the incidents, and Leishman was arrested in 2019.

Shortly after his arrest, another girl came forward about an incident involving a kiss on the lips in a school hall.

Leishman initially appealed the length of the sentence however withdrew his appeal in April 2021.

Reddam House teacher’s jail sentence for student relationship

A high school biology teacher who targeted and groomed a vulnerable teenage student before entering into a three-month sexual relationship has been sentenced to jail.

UK-born teacher Ben Fenner was convicted in Downing Centre District Court in October 2020 of seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under his care at Bondi’s private Reddam House college.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months jail.

Fenner, 35, texted sexually charged messages on WhatsApp to the 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”.

Former Reddam House teacher Ben Fenner, 35, and a police officer outside the Downing Centre in Sydney in October 2020. Picture: Christian Gilles

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.

The victim recently gave a powerful victim impact statement, staring down Fenner in court.

“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,” she said. He will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Judge Robert Weber said the victim was entitled to approach and be educated by the teacher however, this was “cruelly dashed” by Fenner’s actions.

“The offender used her over a period of months for his own sexual gratification,” he said.

Fenner will be eligible for release in January 2023.