Former St Andrews Christian College teacher who sexually assaulted female students wants discounted sentence

A former Wantirna South PE teacher who sexually assaulted female students on school grounds hopes a precedent set during the pandemic will get him a discounted sentence.

A former PE teacher who sexually assaulted female students wants a lighter sentence.

A former PE teacher who sexually assaulted female students on school grounds hopes a precedent set during the pandemic will get him a discounted sentence.

Steven Mellody, 40, could receive a lighter sentence as a result of the “Worboyes Discount” after he pleaded guilty and subsequently spent time in pre-detention during the height of the pandemic.

The “Worboyes Discount” relates to a Court of Appeals ruling in 2021 which set a precedent for discounted sentences for those who made an early plea of guilty during the pandemic and did not force a trial.

Mellody pleaded guilty to six charges in October 2021 relating to grooming and sexually assaulting students while he was a teacher at St Andrews Christian College and has spent 1030 days behind bars on remand.

His lawyer Paul Holdenson KC submitted that Mellody’s case and the “difficulties” he faced in prison during periods of heavy Covid restrictions should be considered in his sentence

Mellody befriended the teenage girls and engaged in sexual acts in his office at St Andrews Christian College.

In terms of his offending, court documents revealed that Mellody befriended the teenage girls and engaged in sexual acts in his office as well as at an annual ski camp where students were under his supervision.

In one WhatsApp exchange with a student he told her that he “want(ed) to take to (her) to the beach in that dress” and “I want to take you on a car ride in that dress. I want to touch you all over your body. I want to feel your waist and your bum.”

The court heard that Mellody spent more than 40 days in quarantine while in jail, where he was isolated inside a cell where food was fed through a trap door and new bedsheets were “flung through like a soccer ball”.

Visits were also limited to one 30 minute zoom call a week with “poor reception”.

Mr Holdensen said that programs at prisons were also stripped back, with Mellody only able to complete one of the 10 prison courses he applied for.

Moreover, Mellody spent 117 days in “full lockdown” while in jail and more than 70 “half lockdowns”.

Mellody appeared for his plea hearing at the County Court on Tuesday dressed in a black suit and supported by family.

Mellody appeared at the County Court supported by his family.

Despite pleading guilty at a committal mention in October 2021, a series of adjournments and delays has pushed the case back more than two years.

Speaking to Mellody’s good character, Mr Holdenson said that his client engaged in several English and maths classes and even tutored other inmates in literacy and helped them fill out post-release forms.

Mr Holdenson said that his client’s positive reviews from psychology reports and willingness to engage in treatment showed a “reduced likelihood of him reoffending”

“What you’ve got is a prisoner who’s voluntarily and actively participated in and achieved treatment gains and has a reduced magnitude of risk of relevant reoffending,” he said.

“He is motivated to change and eradicate what it was which contributed to his offending. He is not the same person in relevant ways as the person who offended.”

The court heard that Mellody had an extensive history of volunteer work with the Salvation Army and other community and church groups.

Mr Holdenson said that at the end of an interview with Mellody in April 2023 he told him that “at least I can tell the Judge you’re someone who’s done some good deeds” to which Mellody replied that he was “disgraced” and that he had “betrayed” his loved ones.

Mr Holdenson revealed that he had difficulties finding people willing to give character references due to a fear of losing their jobs.

Prosecutor Kathleen Crennan submitted that Mellody’s offending was “very serious” and that Mellody’s moral culpability was “high”.

Mellody will be sentenced at a later date.