Tassie teachers who went from the classroom to the courtroom
They’re responsible for shaping the minds of our most vulnerable, but some Tasmanian teachers used their positions of power for evil and sick sexual crimes against students. SEE OUR LIST of educators who faced court over their vile crimes >>
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Annual teachers report reveals suspensions, cancellations, complaints
- Paedophile Darrel Harington continued teaching for decades
THEY’RE often described as heroes for taking on the task of managing classrooms of kids, working long hours to equip our youngest members of society with tools to succeed, but some rotten apples have snuck into the good bunch over the years.
The Teachers Registration Board Tasmania annual report 2019 published in October last year revealed four people had their teacher registrations immediately suspended, while matters of concern were raised for the good character and fitness to teach of 39 teachers.
Efforts made to hold staff to a high standard and protect our children have been ongoing, but some have slipped through the cracks.
These are some of the high profile cases of Tasmanian teachers falling from grace.
ROGER MICHAEL BELLEMORE
A former teacher and priest at Marist Regional College in Burnie, it was only in retirement Bellemore’s crimes came to light.
The priest was found guilty of three counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17 years between 1966 and 1971.
The three boys boarding at the school had been 11, 13 and 15 at the time of the offences.
Each child had given evidence for three indecent assaults.
A recurring pattern found Bellemore invited the boys to his room, giving reasons for each visit such as assistance for a sporting injury and schoolwork tutoring.
Bellemore was sentenced in 2006 to five years imprisonment before a retrial in 2008 adjusted his sentence to four years.
Canberra-based lawyer Jason Parkinson from Porters Lawyers more recently put out a call asking all abuse victims attending the school between 1964 and 1982 to come forward, with his belief further abuse occurred.
SARAH JAYNE VERCOE
The former Rose Bay High schoolteacher was 24 when she had sexual contact with five teenage boys in 2004 and 2005.
Vercoe pleaded guilty to 14 charges relating to sexual contact with five teenage boys.
The first of these boys was pursued by Vercoe through flirtation and text messages before acts of sexual intercourse ensued.
The boy then stopped responding to Vercoe’s messages.
Some months later, she was attending a basketball match and four boys – three of whom were students at the school where she taught – asked her for a lift to a party in Dodges Ferry.
While in the car, Vercoe made sexual jokes with the teens and they later eventually agreed to go to her home.
The teacher offered to massage the boys and made sexual advances on each of them in different rooms of her house – those who were reluctant were encouraged by her.
She later asked the boys both in person and over text to keep quiet about the night, but police attended her home two weeks later to arrest her and question her.
While released on bail, she sent a letter to the boy who she had initially engaged in several sexual acts with asking him to lie about their relationship if questioned, but he made a statement to police detailing the relationship.
Justice Shan Tennent described Vercoe’s behaviour as “predatory” and sentenced her to four years imprisonment.
BRENDAN GEOFFREY JOHNCOCK
The former Saint Patrick’s College Launceston teacher was sentenced in 2005 for two indecent assaults and an aggravated assault, pleading guilty to one indecent assault.
The incident involved a female school student who maintained frequent contact with him and, according to Justice Ewan Crawford, had a “crush” on the teacher.
Johncock breached his duty as an adult and teacher to discourage her, instead going to her home where they exchanged a hug and kiss and the teacher touched the girl’s genitalia.
She refused to give him oral sex, after which time he left abruptly.
After she turned 17 some 12 months later, consensual and legal sexual acts resumed between the pair.
Johncock was 38 at the time of the indecent assault and was sentenced to four months in prison.
NICOLAAS OCKERT BESTER
Bester was a maths teacher at St Michael’s Collegiate School in 2010 when he was made aware of grade nine student Grace Tame’s anorexia diagnosis to help support her.
The teacher offered his office as an apparently safe space for Ms Tame, who shared her issues openly with him and received a key from Bester should she want to spend time in the office.
Bester attempted to visit Ms Tame in hospital when she received further anorexia treatment, which prompted Grace’s parents to hold a meeting with the school and share concerns with senior staff over their questionable teacher-pupil relationship.
Following the meeting, Bester requested to see naked sketches of Ms Tame, and invited her to meet him at the school science lab where he undressed and asked her to do the same.
From then, further criminal conduct ensued between June and December 2010, with Bester using a fake Facebook profile to contact Ms Tame and engaging in intercourse with the vulnerable teenager.
The teacher met regularly with the student for months.
Ms Tame ended the relationship in December 2010 after being a reluctant participant and becoming increasingly depressed.
Bester’s teaching position was terminated in April 2011 when Grace told school staff and her parents what had happened.
He admitted to police he had taken advantage of her, and police found 28 child exploitation images on his computer.
Bester was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person, and four months for possessing child exploitation material.
The former schoolteacher was charged with producing child exploitation material in 2015 and sentenced to four months in jail after detailing his encounters with Ms Tame on his Facebook page.
Grace Tame has since become an advocate for sex-abuse survivors, becoming Tasmanian Australian of the Year in 2020 after leading the #letherspeak campaign allowing survivors the choice to share their names and stories publicly.
DARREL GEORGE HARINGTON
In 2015, Harington confessed to molesting nine boys between 1978 and 2013, aged 12-15.
The former teacher worked at Clarence High School, Hobart Matriculation College, New Town High School, Campania District School, CSIRO, Rosetta High School and Ogilvie High School.
Harington’s crimes spanned from 1978 to 2013 and his eventual exposure as a paedophile sparked the Mercury’s investigation into the Department of Education’s role protecting and promoting him.
Mr Harington maintained a sexual relationship between December 1978 and December 1979 with an eleven-year-old boy who was first preyed upon between Christmas and New Year 1978 in his parents’ home.
Three further cases of indecent assault occurred in 1991 with two brothers in a school science club.
Harington’s initial contact with the boys grew from bear hugs to tickling to play wrestling before becoming sexual in nature.
The boys’ father wrote to the authorities, but police did not take action.
Harington later became a fitness coach and started his own centre where he began coaching one of his wife’s sons’ friends in 2006.
The coach massaged and indecently assaulted the 13-year-old boy after he had complained about an ankle injury.
Two other friends of Harington’s stepsons were indecently assaulted in 2008 through sexual massages.
Three more boys were sexually assaulted at his gym from 2011 to 2013, one of whom maintained a sexual relationship with Harington and was forced into acts he often resisted.
His parents contacted police in April 2013, which led to uncovering further cases of abuse and a seven year prison sentence for Harington.
Bushfire conditions calmer, but threat not over
Firefighters from interstate and New Zealand have arrived to help battle Tasmania’s West Coast blazes. Despite the downgrading of several warnings, challenging conditions persist. UNLOCKED STORY >>
Driver allegedly threatened at knifepoint to drive stranger
Charges have been laid after a report a man entered a stranger’s car and threatened the driver with a small knife to drive him across a Launceston suburb.