Pakenham music director Ben Heels, Tristan Cullinan-Smayle plead guilty to child sex offences
A Berwick music man and his boyfriend are banged up together after being busted for vile child sex offending.
South East
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A former Melbourne music teacher and his grub boyfriend have admitted vile child sex offences.
Benjamin Heels, 33, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday to 35 charges including intentionally sexually touching a child and produce child abuse material.
Heels, a former southeast music director who worked on a recent production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, also pleaded guilty to transmitting and possessing child abuse material.
Its alleged Heels, of Berwick, violated an unknown victim various times at Pakenham between January 1 and May 14 last year.
Heels, who appeared via videolink from Hopkins Correctional, also pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16.
Heels’ partner Tristan Cullinan-Smayle appeared alongside his sicko boyfriend at Friday’s hearing where he pleaded guilty to possess and transmit child abuse material and procure a child for sexual activity.
The fiend’s lewd offending commenced in December 2017.
Cullinan-Smayle, who pleaded guilty to 27 charges, also transmitted child abuse material between December 2017 and May 26 last year.
Heels and Cullinan-Smayle were both subjects of short court-ordered gags which prohibited publication of their identities but the suppression orders have since expired.
Federal prosecutors applied for the suppression orders so police could conduct an investigation which included interviewing witnesses, the court was told.
Heels was arrested in Berwick where he caught with child abuse material on May 26 last year.
The material was located on a computer or storage device.
Heels also produced child abuse material while at Berwick between January 1 and May 20 last year.
It’s understood Heels, whose Facebook profile page states he worked as an instrument music teacher at Fountain Gate Secondary College, helped at multiple performing arts groups based throughout Melbourne’s east and southeast.
The disgraced music director helped produce amateur plays and musicals some of which involved children.
Heels and Cullinan-Smayle will both face the County Court later this month.
