Private school pool deck arrest sparks safety fears for parents
A swimming coach’s arrest has sent shockwaves through junior sport, as investigators reveal the hidden dangers in children’s sporting programs. Here’s what parents need to know.
On October 3, something very strange happened amid the spectacle of the Short Course Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
A young coach on the side of the pool, surrounded by parents, swimmers and supporters, was approached by two plain-clothed men.
The coach was the head of the Methodist Ladies College (MLC) Aquatics squad, Jayden Brian. They talked briefly, then he left with the men, who were plain-clothed police officers.
One minute Brian was coaching his star swimmers, and the next he was gone.
Within hours he was at the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court facing three serious charges: sex assault by touching a child under 16, grooming a child under 16 and using a service provider to procure an under 16-year-old for a sexual act.
Neither Swimming Australia nor the sporting centre had any advance warning of what one witness called the “pool-deck arrest”.
Stunned parents are wondering how allegations like this could happen in such a child-safe aware environment as a swimming program linked to a prestigious private girls’ school.
But while Brian is entitled to a presumption of innocence and his trial is yet to happen, questions continue to be asked about the safety of those involved with junior sport.
“THEY ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH”
Over the course of her long career, world champion triathlete, coach and author Emma Carney has been taught by three coaches who were subsequently arrested for pedophilia.
“This is so disappointing to still exist in coaching of young girls today. “They are obviously not doing enough,” she says.
“It’s shocking that this is still happening in swimming and sports that are very coach-dominant.”
She knows of one 13-year-old swimmer who was told: “I had a dream about you last night” by her coach. “It’s quite disgusting. Some of them are looking at every girl’s bum at every turn at the end of the pool,” Carney says.
“The coaches are very powerful. One girl in the squad messed up a time trial and she was sent back to the changerooms to pick up rubbish and the coach came in to watch her crawl around in her bathers on the floor.”
Carney says parents don’t know they can report such allegations to Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), a national body which manages complaints that relate to safeguarding children and young people on behalf of sporting organisations.
Dr Sarah Benson, CEO of Sporting Integrity Australia says the “vast majority of children in junior sport have positive experiences, but there are still issues and it is a priority for us”.
The agency found 24 breaches of child safe practices outlined in the National Integrity Framework Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy in 2024-25 and 58 the previous year.
One 2024 complaint was received from the parents of a 15-year-old female athlete who reported that her coach had engaged in grooming-like behaviour for a period spanning over 6 months.
During that time, he asked if he could kiss her, he kissed her without consent, messaged her online, gave her gifts, told her he had feelings for her and asked her to delete their text messages.
Although the athlete decided not to pursue criminal proceedings, the coach was suspended and issued with a lifetime ban from the sport, with police and working with children’s check agencies notified.
Also last year, SIA became aware of another coach who was allegedly grooming students over several years and was still in a coaching position.
The coach was suspended by the sport for 10 years after a comprehensive investigation and has recently been arrested by police who are continuing their investigation.
Dr Benson says examples of inappropriate behaviour include “photographing children, crossing professional boundaries, using inappropriate electronic or online communication, and using inappropriate language and tone of voice”.
“Behaviour and risks include engagement with young people online, going for coffee, giving gifts, some physical touching and inappropriate sexual comments such as asking about relationships.
“More serious issues are referred to police and lower and one-off issues we try and deal with through education.”
RED FLAGS FOR PARENTS
It’s a familiar story to one child abuse investigator who can’t be named here for professional reasons.
“There are a lot of coaches and volunteers with poor professional boundaries,” she says.
“There are a lot of celebrations and commiserations and lots of hugging and touching. You win the grand final and the coach hugs and touches the girls,” she says.
“We’ve had a run of coaches who have been accused of inappropriate touching who say, ‘I was just hugging her because she got a goal’. They don’t get it.”
She says some of these individuals are “a bit handsy but not sexual”, but personal and
intimate contact is still considered sexual misconduct.
The veteran investigator says red flags for parents to look out for include “inappropriate contact on social media, especially when it’s done without parental knowledge”.
“The real offenders target vulnerable kids. They name them as captain of the team and then they get to take them to and from games and there is lots of messaging and one-on-one chats.”
“They travel with them, go away with them and get to see them in changerooms in various states of undress,” she says.
The investigator says the highest number of rejected WWC checks are in sport and recreation.
“They have an easy way in, and parents rely on the clubs to know what they are doing but of course they don’t.”
The investigator says some involved with the sport may see complaints as being made by “someone with a grudge”.
PEAK BODIES AND JUNIOR PATHWAYS
State child safety authorities have been expressing concern about sporting bodies for many years. These include the Victorian Commissioner for Children and Young People (CCYP) Meena Singh who warns sporting organisations, along with religious groups, are “struggling to identify and manage risks in their organisation”.
The commission has continually expressed concerns about workers and volunteers in sporting organisations who are under investigation or facing charges, but who remain in their roles.
In addition, sporting organisations continue to engage “individuals who could not obtain Working with Children Check clearance, or individuals under investigation for serious allegations of child abuse, due to poor screening practices”.
The investigator puts it this way: “There is a disconnect between the peak bodies which govern the adult sport and the junior parts.”
“The peak bodies don’t routinely deal with child abuse matters and don’t regularly face reportable conduct allegations.”
“It’s the same in football, cricket, swimming, athletics. The bottom levels prefer to deal with kids’ stuff secretly and lots just manage it internally.
“They say they can’t afford to pay for an investigation and won’t make a notification. I see this time and time again.
“People don’t understand what child sex grooming looks like. I ask them if they know what child grooming looks like and they say, ‘I’ve done the mandatory module’.”
Kate McGill, education manager for Bravehearts, says those “intent on harming kids will seek roles that give them access to kids, whether it’s sports like gymnastics or weekend sport on a Saturday morning”.
She says it was not enough to have policies in place to safeguard children but to “make it a priority organisation wide, especially if there are many volunteers”.
PARENTS ARE STILL WORRIED
The impact of Brian’s arrest is still reverberating through Methodist Ladies College’s students, staff and parents. The school told News Corp that Brian‘s “employment had been terminated and he “has no access to swimmers, students or College facilities”.
The school is confident that no MLC or MLC Aquatic students were involved in any of the charges, but parents still have questions about the safety of their children.
Swimming Australia has now provisionally suspended Jayden Brian’s coaching licence.
They declined to comment as the matter is before the courts. “The wellbeing of all participants in our sport is paramount and Swimming Australia remains committed to athlete safety,” they say in a statement.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the federal government was “deeply committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and other harms”.
“The Government has led the charge on Working with Children Checks reforms, with all states and territories agreeing to work towards implementing reforms to enable ‘banned in one, banned in all’ by the end of the year,” she says.
“These reforms are one part of a broader volume of work already underway to improve child safety outcomes.”
Dr Benson says more can always be done to keep children safe.
“We need to keep building the knowledge and awareness through the system for anyone that has a role to play so people are aware of the legal and governance requirements and know what’s appropriate and what’s inappropriate. We need parents, carers and those working in sport to know what to do and take action when children come to them with an issue.”
She says Sport Integrity Australia has a wide range of information and resources on its website to support keeping children safe in sport.
As parents across metro Australia watching their children dive into pools and run onto fields each weekend, Brian’s pool deck arrest is a stark reminder that the danger may be closer than they think.
Email us at education@news.com.au
The Sport Integrity Australia website is www.sportintegrity.gov.au
RECENT UNRELATED CASES INVOLVING JUNIOR SPORT
August 2025 Queensland
A former swimming coach, Raymond Alexander Stephenson, 85, pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court to four charges involving child exploitation material, including possessing, distributing and accessing. Barrister Lachlan Ygoa McKeown told the court Stephenson had worked as swimming coach and denied to a doctor he had ever thought about committing contact child abuse offences, stating “I had 84 years to do it and more opportunities than most people”.
August 2025, Victoria
Geoffrey Douglas Hollow, 70, abused seven girls over a period of more than a decade while coaching at the Bright and Mt Beauty tennis clubs. He pleaded guilty to 12 child abuse related charges. His victims were as young as 11 and one told the court she had been scarred for life due to his actions
August 2025, South Australia
A retired bank manager and former basketball coach was jailed after he was found with nearly 160,000 files of child abuse material – which he had been collecting for 20 years to build a “collection of pretty young girls”. Michael Terence Trainer, 76, was sentenced in the District Court after pleading guilty to possessing child exploitation material consisting of children as young as six.
June 2025, Victoria
A former Victorian Senior of the Year and an Indigenous elder, Robert Eccles was jailed in June after being convicted of three charges of committing an indecent act with a child. At the time of the offending in 2012, Eccles had been an umpire in Warrnambool for about 50 years and was a trainer with the nickname of “Black Hands” who was known for his massages and rub-downs. His victim was a junior umpire who went to Mr Eccles’ house for massages. He spoke of the impact of the sexual offences, describing the “shame, guilt, dirty feelings” he experiences every day.
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Originally published as Private school pool deck arrest sparks safety fears for parents
