Teachers of the Wide Bay Burnett who faced court
From shocking acts, to fraud, drugs and other offences committed off the clock, read about Wide Bay and Burnett’s disgraced teachers and the misdeeds that led them to court.
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Teachers are a bedrock of society in Australia. They impart wisdom, learning and inspiration to the children in their care.
In Queensland, teachers who appear before the court risk serious damage to their careers. They are expected to uphold the laws of the state, setting an example for their students; failure to do so can result in being stripped of their teacher registration.
Any Queensland teacher employed by the Department of Education who is charged or convicted of an indictable offence is required by law to immediately notify the Department.
Depending on the allegations, teachers may face a lengthy disqualification of their registration as a result.
See the list of Wide Bay Burnett disgraced teachers and the misdeeds that led them to court:
Convictions recorded
Sarah Jayne Ryan
A school teacher learnt a lesson the hard way after a very high alcohol reading left her with a sizeable fine and a lengthy licence disqualification.
Sarah Jayne Ryan pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on February 2, 2021 to driving while under the influence of liquor.
The court heard police were called to Page St on New Year's Day after a woman had fallen out of a car and on to the road.
When police spoke with Ryan she told them she had consumed an unknown quantity of tequila somewhere in Bundaberg and driven about 100m from where she was parked.
Ryan participated in a breath test where she blew a reading of 0.300, more than six times the legal limit.
Ryan was fined $2000 and was disqualified from holding a licence for 20 months. A conviction was recorded.
Joanne Lee Rogers
A former Bundaberg teacher aide spent time behind bars after using her access to NDIS funds to fund a lifestyle of meth use and gambling.
Joanne Lee Rogers pleaded guilty and was convicted in the Bundaberg District Court in August, 2022 of two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.
The 48-year-old had previously worked as a teacher aide at Bundaberg West State School and Bundaberg Special School before working in a disability support service Carinbundi for seven years and then starting her own business in the industry.
It was after that, that she began logging claims for cleaning and general errand jobs she never completed for her clients, the court heard.
Rogers was registered as an NDIS approved carer in 2018 and started lodging claims for jobs she had never completed, accumulating $97,589.90 over 99 payments.
Rogers was sentenced to two and a half years in jail, to be released after serving four months on a $1000 recognisance and the condition she be of good behaviour for three years. She also had to pay $50,000 in reparation to the Commonwealth.
Brianna Jodie Louise Johnson
A young dance teacher-turned racy model, found with a collection of MDMA, cocaine and cannabis, was warned to steer clear of a “fantasy” world which glamorised drug use.
Brianna Jodie Louise Johnson pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Supreme Court in October, 2021 to possessing dangerous drugs and utensils.
The court heard the 20-year-old previously taught dance to special needs children and was also formerly from Bundaberg but now lived on the Gold Coast.
Police found six bags of MDMA in a drawer under the TV in her bedroom in Bundaberg on April 21, 2020.
The roughly evenly sized bags contained a total of 28.447g of crystal, of which 17.595g was pure MDMA.
Police also found two small bags of cocaine, containing .78g of the drug, with two cut straws in one of the bags.
A number of water pipes were found as well as two electric grinders and 231g of cannabis, which was in the kitchen.
Johnson was sentenced to two years’ jail but released on immediate parole.
Stephen Leslie Balaza
A teacher aide who worked with disabled children, a school bus driver and president of countless community organisations, Stephen Leslie Balaza was a pillar of the Childers and Isis communities.
But the consequences of being caught with more than 2.5kg of marijuana impacted the then 59-year-old in a magnitude of ways and threatened to put a halt to his community-orientated volunteering.
Balaza appeared in the Bundaberg District Court on April 25, 2018 and pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana.
Police found three bags of the drug in his car on his South Isis property on May 30, 2017.
The court heard Balaza picked up the drugs from an unknown person in Hervey Bay and there was an arrangement for a second unknown person to collect the drugs, in return for an amount of small cash.
Balaza was placed on a 15-month suspended sentence for three years.
Farron Crawford
A South Burnett teacher was convicted of high-level drink driving and lost his licence for almost a year after pleading guilty to driving with an illegal blood alcohol content of .153 per cent.
Farron Crawford faced Murgon Magistrates Court on May 4, 2021 and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
Police prosecutor Pepe Gangemi told the court officers intercepted Crawford on Douglas St in Murgon, at 1.30am on April 2, 2021.
The community teacher at Cherbourg State School returned a blood-alcohol level of .153, more than triple the legal limit.
Crawford was convicted and fined $1100, and his licence was suspended for nine months.
Juanita Joy Smith
Juanita Joy Smith was on probation and bail but it wasn’t enough to stop the former childcare worker from continuing her drug trafficking trade after already being caught.
Between September 2020 and March 2021, Smith ran a drug business selling ice to a customer base of about 38 people to fuel her own habit.
Smith, who was 48 years old at the time, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Supreme Court on December 14, 2021 to drug trafficking, supplying and a number of other drug related offences.
Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco told the court Smith would purchase drugs from her daughter’s partner before on-selling them to her own customer base multiple times a day.
Ms Marco told the court Smith would buy ice almost every day and at one point, had a debt of about $14,000.
Smith was sentenced to five years in jail and will be eligible for parole in April, 2023 after serving 22 months and 168 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time already served.
Justin Shane Chapman
There were tears in Gympie District Court as a junior rugby coach, who was 33 years old at the time, was sentenced over a physical and sexual attack on a group of teens.
Justin Shane Chapman pleaded guilty in June, 2022 to three charges of sexual assault, one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm and six charges of common assault, all relating to a drunken incident.
The court heard Chapman and his co-offender, Joel Andrew Kenneth Murray, were travelling along Teewah Beach on the evening of September 23, 2020, when they came across a group of 20 teenagers camping.
The court heard nine of the teens were assaulted during their visit, including a 17-year-old girl whose chest Chapman touched inappropriately with a beer bottle, squeezed her bottom and inappropriately touched her between her shorts and underwear.
He later grabbed the crotch of an 18-year-old boy and went on to inappropriately touch two more boys, grab the bottom of another boy, force a kiss on an 18-year-old girl’s cheek and another onto a girl sitting in a camp chair.
Chapman also punched one of the boys he inappropriately touched when he was asked to leave, and a fight broke out.
Chapman was sentenced to 21 months behind bars, suspended for three years and placed on three years’ probation for the assault occasioning bodily harm charge.
Rebecca Sarah Creighton
A school teacher of 25 years who crashed her car down an embankment and then fled the scene was found to be driving with a blood alcohol concentration more than twice the legal limit.
Police were called to a single car crash at The Dawn near Gympie, in November 2020, where it was reported the driver of a Subaru had driven off the road into an embankment, and appeared to be intoxicated.
The driver, Rebecca Sarah Creighton, who was 51 years old during her court appearance, left the scene and was found at home by police who traced the car’s registration to her.
The court heard Creighton spoke with slurred speech to police, who gave her a breath test, before taking her to the Gympie station for another reading, which returned a blood alcohol concentration of 0.157.
Creighton pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence in Gympie Magistrates Court in December 2020 and was disqualified from driving or holding a licence for one year, and fined $1000
John Vincent Lewis
A Maryborough teacher who sexually abused his students failed to have his prison sentence reduced.
John Vincent Lewis, 79, pleaded guilty in February 2022, to five counts of indecent dealing in relation to three women who were taught by him when they were nine and 10 years old.
He had previously served time in jail for similar offences in 1986, 2017 and 2019, as victims reported him for sexual abuse.
Then, in 2020, three more women came forward, bringing his total number of victims to 20.
In the most recent sentencing, the three women read victim impact statements to the court, telling of how Lewis had repeatedly brought them to the front of the classroom and molested them in front of their schoolmates.
Lewis appealed the 18-month prison sentence (to be released after three months) handed down in Hervey Bay District Court.
In May 2022, the Supreme Court of Queensland returned its decision: leave to appeal was refused and Lewis must serve the remainder of his sentence.
Rose Marie Whittingham
A Hervey Bay teacher who tried to flee police while more than four times the limit, was ordered to stay off the road for two-and-a-half years.
Rose Marie Whittingham, 32 at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on March 7, 2018, to failing to stop for police and drink driving.
Police prosecutor Donna Sperling said officers initially tried to stop her about 11pm on February 10, 2018 because her headlights were off.
She said Whittingham stopped her car for the officers but as soon as they got out of their car to talk to her, she drove off and a chase ensued along Main St and on to Old Maryborough Rd.
Whittingham eventually came to her senses and stopped; her blood alcohol reading was 0.205.
Along with being disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years, Whittingham was fined $7000.
Convictions not recorded
David Elliot James Ward
A physical education teacher who made an attempt to take his own life after being bullied by the principal of a Gympie high school faced court for assaulting a police officer.
David Elliot James Ward, 48, pleaded guilty to two charges of obstructing police and serious assault of a police officer at Noosa Magistrates Court on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.
Police were called to a unit in Cooroy on December 30, 2022 but unable to get Ward’s attention, police kicked in the door before finding him passed out and “clearly under the influence of alcohol,” police prosecutor Allison Johnstone said.
He became “agitated and non compliant” and wanted to get himself some water bottle but police explained “they would get him that drink,” Sergeant Johnstone said.
Ward pointed the water bottle at the police officer’s face and squeezed it “forcing liquid into the open areas of his face – eyes, nose and mouth,” Sergeant Johnstone said.
He was taken to Nambour Hospital for assessment and provided a breath alcohol concentration of 0.277 per cent.
Defence lawyer Pamela Sweetapple told the court Ward’s life “spiralled out of control when he made the choice to start drinking and self medicating to cope with bullying he had suffered by the principal of a Gympie high school who was stood down by the Department of Education in November last year.”
Ward was fined $400 and no conviction was recorded.
Karley Jaye Fisher
A Bundaberg teacher’s aide working at a local primary school found herself in front of a magistrate after a drunken rant in the street.
Karley Jaye Fisher, 31, was under the influence of alcohol when she started swearing at 16-year-old children on the street saying “come here you c----s or I’ll stab you”.
The Bundaberg Magistrates Court was told police were also subjected to Fisher’s abuse and called the same names when they arrived on the scene.
Fisher pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance.
She was fined $350, deferred to SPER, and no conviction was recorded.
Craig Ryan Nelson
A South Burnett teacher blew more than four times the legal blood-alcohol limit after he was found passed out at Murgon BP on Melbourne Cup Day in 2019.
Witnesses told police he had driven to the station on the Bunya Highway about 10.50pm on November 5, 2019 and walked around his car before getting back into it.
Craig Ryan Nelson, who taught Years 3 and 4 at Wheatlands State School, faced Murgon Magistrates Court on November 19, 2019 charged with driving under the influence.
Police prosecutor Barry Stevens told the court it had taken several attempts to wake him, and he smelt strongly of liquor and blew a reading of 0.207 blood alcohol concentration.
Nelson was fined $1100 and disqualified from driving for eight months. Following the eight- month disqualification, he was required to have an interlock device fitted on his car. No conviction was recorded.
Patrick James Carroll
A Cooloola Cove golf coach threatened to “blow up” a local bakery after an argument over the phone with a worker.
Patrick James Carroll, 37, pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court on April 4, 2022 to two charges of using a carriage service to menace, harass or be offensive.
The court heard Carroll visited a bakery in Cooloola Cove on January 29, 2022, and asked for a pie, but none were left.
Carroll left the store only to return a short time later to buy a frozen pie and then called the store 15 minutes later, where he asked a staff member “how come when the main lady is not there, everything goes wrong?”.
Police prosecutor Michael Phillips said Carroll continued to rant, but the worker hung up on him only for Carroll to call back almost immediately.
The worker threatened to call police, hung up the phone and blocked Carroll’s number but Carroll got to the police first, and told them he was “about to lose himself mentally and physically”.
“The defendant demanded that police arrest the (bakery worker) or he would go down and blow the place up,” Sergeant Phillips said.
Mr Callaghan ordered Carroll be placed on probation for 12 months. No conviction was recorded.
Donna Cheree Palmer
A former Gympie teacher aide pleaded guilty on November 9, 2021 to assault, after a “volatile” relationship with her daughter turned violent when she put her hand around the young woman’s throat.
Donna Cheree Palmer, who was 51 years old at the time, faced Gympie District Court charged with common assault and assault occasioning bodily harm.
The court heard Palmer arrived at her 22-year-old daughter’s home on September 20, 2019, when an argument broke out between the two women.
The situation escalated when Palmer placed her hand around her daughter’s throat who quickly got out of her mother’s grip before she choked her.
When Palmer tried to leave, her daughter blocked her exit and said “you aren’t going anywhere until the police arrive”.
Palmer then put her daughter in a headlock, which gave her a panic attack and left welts on her neck, the court heard.
Palmer was ordered to complete 80 hours community service over 12 months. No conviction was recorded.
Peter Matthew Mileson
A Rainbow Beach teacher and former acting principal faced the Gympie Magistrates Court after police found several marijuana plants and restricted drugs when his home was searched.
On July 2, 2020, police searched Peter Matthew Mileson‘s Cooloola Cove house, where they found four marijuana plants in the backyard as well as restricted nicotine and liquids used for vaping.
Mileson, who was 47 years old at the time, told police he knew the marijuana was growing in the yard but it was his wife‘s, and he had not helped her grow it.
Mileson also said he knew about the liquid nicotine, which had been ordered online from overseas, not by him, and was used for vaping.
During their search police also found blister packs of a restricted drug and they told police they forgot they had.
Mileson pleaded guilty to drug charges including possession of marijuana, restricted drugs and restricted nicotine, and was fined $500. No convictions were recorded.
Leon Alexander McKay
A former Granville State School principal punched a taxi driver in the head before grabbing the steering wheel on the Bruce Highway.
Leon Alexander McKay pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court on June 15, 2021 to serious assault of a person over 60 and interfering with control of a driver’s vehicle.
McKay, who was 53 at the time of his court appearance, claimed he was frustrated because the cab driver refused to stop the taxi on the highway despite being told he was taking him in the wrong direction.
The court was told McKay had been drinking at a home on Arthur St, Maryborough when he became grossly intoxicated on December 10, 2020.
His friends put him in the taxi and gave the address in Tinana but McKay lived in Maryborough.
The court was told when on the Bruce Highway, McKay began to argue with the driver and asked him to pull over.
The driver refused because he feared for McKay’s safety so McKay punched the taxi driver twice in the head and grabbed the steering wheel.
Magistrate Grace Kahlert fined him $2500 and ordered he pay the taxi driver $800 in compensation. No conviction was recorded.
Criminals not named for legal reasons
25-year-old Bundaberg Student teacher:
A 25-year-old Bundaberg father-of-two was sentenced to just three months in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two counts of carnal knowledge of a child under 16.
The offences took place over a 16 month period in 2015 and 2016, when the man was a 21-year-old student teacher at a school in the Bundaberg region, police prosecutor Sergeant Grant Klaassen told Bundaberg Magistrates Court.
The former student, who was 14 at the time of the offences, read a victim impact statement to the court, explaining how she had gone from a happy and bubbly person to someone suffering from depression and anxiety.
“You groomed me to get what you wanted,” she said.
Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan ordered the 25-year-old spend three months behind bars before his sentence is suspended for three years.
Coffs Harbour man sentenced in Gympie for child exploitation
An aspiring teacher was sent to jail for eight months by the Gympie District Court in June 2022. His crimes included taking explicit pictures of a young autistic child and trading the sick content with other predators online.
The Coffs Harbour man pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court to seven charges stemming from crimes committed over a three-year period from 2017 to 2020.
These included four counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12 in the man’s care, along with charges of possessing child exploitation material, making child exploitation material, and distributing child exploitation material.
Police found more than 1100 images and 200 videos of the material across various electronic devices including the man’s phone.
The man had also created his own material involving the autistic child of his then partner. The subject matter was too distressing to publish.
The man was jailed for eight months and then released on probation for three years.
Abusive teacher ‘will never teach again’ says education dept
A Fraser Coast teacher was found guilty of nine charges relating to years of reported sexual abuse he inflicted on his stepson.
The stepson was only a child when the abuse started in 1999, but charges were not pressed against the teacher until early 2015.
The man was teaching up until he was arrested.
The Hervey Bay District Courtroom heard the teacher emotionally manipulated his stepson, turning the boy into a submissive victim which allowed him to continue offending until the stepson moved out of home after he turned 18.
While handing down his sentence, Justice John Robertson said the man had committed “sexual abuse of the most appalling kind”.
“Your offending was brazen and escalated in seriousness from when you were able to alienate him [the stepson] from his own family,” Justice Robertson said.
The man was sentenced in November, 2016, to 10 years imprisonment, as well as being registered as a sex offender.
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