All charges dropped for former Wangaratta High School teacher Benjamin Wayne Holding

Police have dropped sexual assault charges against a Wangaratta teacher.

Police have withdrawn all sex and assault charges against a suspended Wangaratta teacher.

Police prosecutor, Leading Senior Constable Stuart Pritchard, on Thursday withdrew all charges against Benjamin Wayne Holding in the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court.

It comes after the prosecution requested an adjournment in the case earlier this month, when it announced it was reviewing the case against the 27-year-old.

He said the charges had been withdrawn following the review, in line with Department of Public Prosecution guidelines.

Police have dropped all charges against Benjamin Wayne Holding.

Holding, who was a digital technology teacher at Wangaratta High School, was formally suspended from teaching earlier this year due to a police investigation into alleged sexual offending and subsequent charges.

In March, Leader reported detectives from the Wangaratta Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) had charged a 27-year-old Wangaratta man with sexual assault by touching, common law assault and unlawful assault against three separate victims.

“The alleged incidents occurred in the Wangaratta area between January 2020 and May 2021,” a police spokesperson had confirmed.

The details of what was alleged were never aired in court.

Holding began teaching at Wangaratta High School at the beginning of the 2020 school year.

He was formally suspended from teaching by the Victorian Institute of Teaching in March and remains suspended.

If this story has affected you, help is available by calling the Sexual Assault Crisis Line on 1800 806 292, 1800 RESPECT or Safe Steps on 1800 015 188