Bendigo teacher Bryan Russell Keely charged with raping child, grooming child while on bail

A Bendigo teacher allegedly told a teenager he was “fighting to never loose (sic)” her, while on bail for her alleged sexual assault.

Bryan Russell Keely charged at Bendigo Magistrates' Court with sexual abuse of a child. Picture: Contributed.

A Bendigo teacher allegedly told a 15-year-old girl it was his “dream” to live with her and watch their children run around, while he was on bail for allegedly sexually assaulting the same teenager.

Bryan Russell Keely, 35, faced Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged a raft of offences including the sexual penetration of a child under 16, sexual assault of a child, and the possession of child abuse material.

The Spring Gully man was arrested at a Bendigo school on August 28 last year after a teenage girl told police she had been in a “sexual relationship” with Mr Keely since May that year.

Keely was arrested at a Bendigo school and charged with raping a child.

He was released on bail on August 29 and ordered to not go within 20m of the teenager.

He was also ordered to have no contact with children or to use social media.

Police allege the suspended teacher groomed the girl on Snapchat and possessed child abuse material while on bail in September and October 2023.

According to the agreed summary tendered to the court, the teenager told police in October she had met with the accused while her mother was “getting her lashes done” where they “tongue kissed each other, hugged and exchanged ‘I love you’s’”.

They had planned to meet again but the teenager was “too lazy”. Instead, they exchanged photos and videos with their clothes off, she told police.

The court documents detail alleged Snapchat conversations between Mr Keely and the teenager, where he called her “beautiful” and said he wanted to “touch” her “again”.

It’s alleged he told the teenager he was “fighting to never loose u (sic)”.

“I love you baby so much it hurts me wishing you a amazing sleep and dreams of us living together in our own home with our kids running around laughing. Your my beautiful angel love u from the deepest part of my heart xx,” the accused allegedly wrote.

Just a couple of days later, he allegedly messaged the teenager - who he referred to as his “girlfriend” - again, using his mother’s iPad.

“I’m hiding my device now. (REDACTED) gone and yelled at that bitch and she’s reported it to the cops. They might come and look/take all my devices again. If u don’t hear from me that’s why. I gotta hide it. Because they will take my phone. His a fucking idiot. Sorry about this . Talk tomorrow babe love u ”.

He said he would “go back to jail if they got caught”, the documents allege.

The conversation then continued over the following days with the pair also allegedly exchanging sexually explicit images, before the girl’s mother learnt of their alleged communication.

Mr Keely is yet to enter a formal plea as his case progresses towards the County Court.

On Wednesday his lawyer, Ms Jackson, applied to have the sexual offences he allegedly committed on bail dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court summarily.

Ms Jackson said there was “something not right” about Mr Keely, stating he had attended a GP just days before his second arrest for alleged child grooming to get a mental health plan.

Mr Keely’s defence submitted character references that “speak highly of him”, asking Magistrate Trieu Huynh to sentence Mr Keely to a community corrections order with psychological treatment to “explore the underlying reason” for the alleged offending.

Ms Jackson said Keely showed an “inability to properly appreciate the seriousness of his offending”.

“There is something not adding up in relation to Mr Keely,” she said.

“It’s in the community’s interest that the issues of him making the decisions he has made are corrected.”

But Mr Huynh said the charges were “very serious” and the prosecution’s case against Mr Keely was “strong”.

“The utility of a community corrections order, I just can’t see,” he said.

Mr Huynh refused the summary jurisdiction application, saying Mr Keely’s alleged grooming was “protracted” and “voluminous” over the period of a month.

Mr Keely will remain remanded in custody ahead of his next court date in April.