Ex junior league club president Bobby Cummings and swim coach Craig Chantler both charged with child grooming offence
The teen at the centre of child grooming allegations levelled against Cronulla High School teacher Craig Chantler has accused two more men, one a prominent junior rugby league referee, of the same crime.
Police & Courts
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A 15-year-old boy who levelled child grooming allegations against Cronulla swim coach and high school teacher Craig Chantler has accused two other men of the same alleged crime.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal police have charged Sutherland junior rugby league stalwart Robert ‘Bobby’ Cummings and Gymea Bay electrician Alan Foy over allegations they sexually groomed the teen in separate incidents in April this year after connecting with him over the gay dating app Grindr.
The Telegraph understands police will allege none of the grooming acts are linked, nor are the trio directly known to each other, but that each man communicated with the teen individually over social media “with the intention of procuring [him] to engage in sexual activity with [them]”.
Cummings, a long-time football referee and former president of Sutherland Loftus United Junior Rugby League Club, was arrested at his Engadine home on the evening of April 27 and taken to Sutherland Police Station where he was charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity.
Detectives took Chantler into custody at Caringbah’s Swimmerz Academy two days later during an early morning practice session at the swim school.
The Cronulla High PDHPE teacher and aspiring local government politician was later charged with procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity, and using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity.
Foy was arrested at his home in Sutherland just before 5am on May 3.
He was taken to Sutherland Police Station and charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity and procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity.
All three men were granted bail by police following their arrests. While some of the conditions attached to their liberty are generic, others have been tailored to the trio’s individual purists and interests.
Bail documents sighted by The Telegraph reveal Cummings, 57, is banned from going within 200 metres of any sporting field where active games are being played by children under 18 years, including rugby league, rugby union and soccer.
He must also report to police three times a week and abide by a night-time curfew unless working.
Meanwhile, 45-year-old Foy is prohibited from being involved in any youth organisations including the Miranda RSL Youth Club.
He must also report to police daily, live at a nominated address and abide by a night-time curfew.
Police have banned Chantler from attending public pools and stipulate the 42-year-old cannot be involved in Scouts, the NSW Rural Fire Service, or the youth-focused Duke of Edinburgh Award program while on bail.
All three men are also forbidden from contacting or being in the company of anyone under the age of 18 and must not use any social media apps “including but not limited to, Grindr, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram”, the bail documents said.
All three cases were mentioned in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday, where lawyers for Chantler and Cummings, both of whom were excused from attending court, agreed to a five-week adjournment at the request of prosecutors.
The court heard the individual briefs of evidence against the men were yet to be completed, with mobile phone analyses and further witness statements yet to be filed.
Meanwhile, Foy turned up to court in person, telling Magistrate Roger Prowse he still had not hired a lawyer.
He asked to have his night-time curfew condition deleted on the weekends so he could “catch up with friends and family”, but the application was refused.
The cases will return to court on August 24.
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