Teacher Hayley Maree Cassell charged with raft of indecent treatment of child offences, grooming
A teacher charged with a raft of offences related to the indecent treatment of a child has fronted court for the first time.
A teacher charged with a raft of offences related to the indecent treatment of a child has surrendered her blue card as part of her bail conditions, court documents reveal.
Hayley Maree Cassell fronted Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with more than 74 offences of indecent treatment of a child, and others including grooming and attempting to pervert justice.
She left the court in a hurry and in the company of her lawyer Thomas McKee. She did not speak to waiting media.
Outside, Mr McKee did not comment on whether his client planned to fight the charges.
“It’s early days … she’s only just been charged,” he said as the pair left court.
Ms Cassell, from Hope Island, was charged by investigators from the Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit in June, several months after receiving a complaint regarding the alleged acts.
The 32-year-old is facing 74 charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
She is also charged with one count each of grooming, observations or recordings in breach of privacy and attempting to pervert justice.
In February, a woman made a complaint to police regarding alleged indecent treatment when she was a teenager.
Police allege in court documents the offences took place in various locations across the Gold Coast, including addresses in Mermaid Waters, Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach and Varsity Lakes.
Another indecent treatment offence is alleged to have taken place in Brisbane.
In the documents, it is alleged Ms Cassell’s grooming charge occurred between January 27, 2015 and July 28, 2016, where she “engaged in conduct” in relation to a person under 16 “with intent to facilitate the procurement … to engage in a sexual act”.
Her charge of attempting to pervert justice involves her allegedly making a false statement on oath for a judicial proceeding on July 10, 2017.
Ms Cassell has already surrendered her passport and blue card as part of her bail conditions.
She must reside at her Hope Island address, report to police in Coomera and is banned from having any unsupervised contact, directly or indirectly, with any child under 16 years.
On Wednesday, Ms Cassell’s lawyer Thomas McKee asked for an adjournment for the brief of evidence to be disclosed.
The court was told six weeks was a suitable time frame for the brief to be delivered.
Mr McKee also asked for his client’s bail undertaking to be amended so she would be required to only report once a week to police.
Ms Cassell’s bail was continued and her matter was adjourned to September 28.’
She was excused from appearing in person.