Benjamin Quansah: Melbourne teacher accused of hiding rape, kidnapping allegation from authorities

A Melbourne school teacher who worked in classrooms for nearly a decade was once accused of raping and kidnapping a teenage girl in north-west Victoria.

A western suburbs school teacher worked in classrooms for nearly a decade while allegedly hiding the fact that he had been charged with the abduction and rape of a teenage girl in north-west Victoria.

Benjamin Quansah, who taught IT and English at Baden Powell College in Tarneit and the now-closed Gilmore College for Girls, is facing disciplinary action from the Victorian Institute of Teaching, the state’s teaching regulator, with investigators alleging he obtained his teacher registration by fraud and dishonesty.

Mr Quansah was first registered as a teacher in 2012, three years after a Mildura County Court jury acquitted him of rape, indecent assault and kidnapping charges.

Teachers must disclose to the institute if they have been charged with any criminal offence, even if they were found not guilty.

Mildura Court

The institute’s lawyer, Bianca Dalby, told a recent hearing Mr Quansah repeatedly ticked “no” when asked, on his registration paperwork, whether he had ever been charged with a criminal offence.

Neither Mr Quansah nor his lawyer attended the hearing, and Ms Dalby said a letter sent to investigators didn’t properly explain why he had not been upfront about his brush with the law.

“It (the letter) doesn’t really explain why he answered ‘no’ to the question,” she said.

Ms Dalby said the hearing panel should find Mr Quansah was “careless or reckless as to the truth of the statement that he made” on his registration paperwork in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Teacher Benjamin Quansah worked at Baden Powell College while allegedly hiding the fact he was once charged with kidnapping and raping a teenage girl. Picture: Supplied

She said the hearing panel could be “comfortably satisfied” he had obtained his teaching registration by fraud or dishonesty.

Mr Quansah’s alleged misconduct came to light because of a recent clampdown to child safety laws, which meant the authorities responsible for working with children checks notified the teaching regulator about his charges, even though he was acquitted.

The panel is yet to determine whether the allegations against Mr Quansah have been substantiated, and is expected to hear arguments about an appropriate sanction on a date to be fixed.

Mr Quansah’s current teaching registration is set to expire in March.