How Whyalla primary school teacher was found guilty of sexually assaulting three students

It took one brave act for the extent of this primary school teacher’s heinous actions to be revealed.

• ‘Keep it a secret’: Vile acts exposed

What was supposed to be a normal school pick-up turned into every parent’s worst nightmare after a mother discovered the horrifying truth about her daughter’s teacher.

Her six year old daughter disclosed that she had been indecently assaulted by someone who had abused their position of trust and instead had a heinous secret.

The Whyalla teacher, whose name is currently suppressed, now awaits his fate after committing vile offending against three young girls.

Giving evidence in the man’s trial, the mother told the Port Augusta District Court she picked up her children from school on June 29, 2023.

A Whyalla primary school teacher has been found guilty of multiple sexual offences against three students. File image: iStock

“I asked (the victim) how her day at school was, and she didn’t answer me,” she said.

“And then she mentioned that she had some Mentos.

“And obviously I was curious so I asked her where she got them from and she had told me that she had gone to (the teacher’s) room by herself.

“I asked her where he was and she said that he was sitting next to her. And then she told that he had touched her fanny.”

The mother said she turned to her daughter in shock, noting “she looked terrified”.

“She had told me that he had given it to her because she had to keep it a secret and he had given the Mentos to her because she was a good girl,” she said.

The court heard girl’s parents notified the school of the offending and the school sent out a letter to parents but didn’t reveal the teacher’s name.

They also reported it to police immediately after, with the man’s DNA being found on the girl’s underpants.

Two other victims then came forward and disclosed the man had also sexually abused them.

After a trial in the District Court, Auxiliary Judge Gordon Barrett found the 47-year-old man guilty of two counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual abuse of a child.

The court heard when the mother of the second victim asked why she hadn’t told her sooner, she said she didn’t want the man to go to jail.

The last victim said the man told her that she was “special”, called her “sweet pea” and sent her multiple notes asking her to meet him at lunch time.

A Whyalla primary school teacher has been found guilty of multiple sexual offences against three students. File image: iStock

The man’s defence counsel argued that due to their age, the victim’s accounts lacked reliability and in some cases showed signs of improbability and implausibility.

They also argued there could have been collusion between the victims as their accounts of the man’s offending were similar.

However, Auxiliary Judge Barrett said he was satisfied that none of the girls had colluded with each other or anyone else to tell a false story.

“The combined effect of their otherwise credible and generally reliable evidence is that I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused touched them in the way that they said,” he said.

“The alleged behaviour was particularly brazen and there was a high risk of detection.”

The man will face sentencing submissions in May.

Originally published as How Whyalla primary school teacher was found guilty of sexually assaulting three students