Student ‘wellbeing officer’ charged with sex with NT teenager

A student wellbeing officer who works with Indigenous children at a prominent private school in Darwin has been arrested after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a teenager.

Liam Mendes and Joanna Panagopoulos

A wellbeing officer who works with Indigenous children at a school in Darwin has been arrested after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a child and was intending to meet the child over the weekend, sources say

less than 2 min read

8:30PMApril 04, 2025

A student wellbeing officer who works with Indigenous children at a prominent private school in Darwin has been arrested after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a teenager.

The Australian can reveal the “high-profile” figure in the local Darwin AFL league was also allegedly intending to meet the teenager this weekend, sources said.

Northern Territory Police will allege the man in his 30s, who is also an AFL coach at the independent school in Darwin, allegedly had sexual intercourse with the now 17-year-old alleged victim on two occasions last year.

While he has been charged with two counts of “sexual intercourse – young person (by person in position of authority)”, sources said police are also investigating “alleged advances” towards two friends of the alleged victim.

It can also be revealed the man, who cannot be identified because of the nature of the charges, has family in an Indigenous community in Darwin’s north and was allegedly communicating with the schoolgirl on social media. He is described as someone who “leads by example” at his footy team and “works with and supporting children” at the school.

In a statement, NT Police said the man was arrested on Thursday and had been kept in custody.

Sources said the mother found the explicit messages on the teenager’s phone.

In a statement, police said they had charged a man in his 30s in relation to alleged sexual intercourse with a young person.

“The man was an employee at a Top End school, and is alleged to have been having sexual intercourse with a student enrolled at the same school. The man is not a member of the teaching staff,” police said on Friday.

“The alleged offender was arrested (on Thursday) and has been charged with sexual intercourse – young person (by person in position of authority).”

On Friday his matter was adjourned and he was remanded in custody to be seen for a bail application by a judge next week.