Whyalla primary school teacher found guilty of sexually assaulting three students
A Whyalla primary school teacher has been found guilty of sickening acts against students in a classroom, before giving them lollies to keep it a secret.
A primary school teacher has been found guilty of vile acts against three students, including giving one lollies to keep it a secret.
The 47-year-old man, whose name is currently suppressed, now awaits his fate after he committed the “particularly brazen” offending against the young girls.
After a trial in the District Court, Auxiliary Judge Gordon Barrett found the man guilty of two counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual abuse of a child.
In a judgment published online, the court heard the man was a Whyalla primary school teacher who was charged with sexual offences against three young girls.
The court heard the man indecently assaulted the first victim between December 2022 and June 2023 when she was aged between five and six.
“He pulled her pants down. He gave her a lolly. At the end of lunch he kissed her on the head,” the judgment read.
The court heard the man’s DNA was found in the first victim’s underpants.
The victim told her parents the man gave her a Mentos because “she was a good girl and she had to keep it a secret”.
The court heard the man also sexually abused two more students – aged five and seven – including pulling one girl between his legs and rubbing her bottom.
“When asked about how she felt when the accused rubbed her bottom she said that it made her feel ‘yucky’,” the judgment read.
The last victim said the man told her that she was “special”, called her “sweet pea” and sent her multiple notes asking her to meet him at lunch time.
“(The victim) said that in answer to the letters the accused had sent her she went to see
him four of the five times, but he did not do anything to her,” the judgment read.
“However, he did tell her not to tell her parents about what he had been doing.”
The man’s defence counsel argued that due to their age, the victim’s accounts lacked reliability and in some cases showed signs of improbability and implausibility.
They also argued there was collusion between the victims as their accounts of the man’s offending were similar.
However, Auxiliary Judge Barrett said he was satisfied that none of the girls had colluded with each other or anyone else to tell a false story.
“The combined effect of their otherwise credible and generally reliable evidence is that I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused touched them in the way that they said,” he said.
“The alleged behaviour was particularly brazen and there was a high risk of detection.”
The man will face sentencing submissions in May.
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Originally published as Whyalla primary school teacher found guilty of sexually assaulting three students
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