INFO:

A former male educator and lawyer who was previously charged with four counts of possession of vile child abuse material will be allowed to work with children, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found. But on May 5, that notice was lifted by the tribunal after he was not deemed to be an “unacceptable risk” to children. Tribunal documents state that when the man was 18, in 2004, he joined Yahoo chat groups where he was sent child abuse material including 30 still images and a video. The sickening file names of the illicit material included “hot boy”, “cute boy” and “2 cute little boys having fun”. The former teacher was also sent 800 images of children in underwear and swimwear that were downloaded onto his computer. The tribunal heard the man, who also briefly worked as a solicitor, was told by the Legal Practitioners Board that he failed to disclose that he downloaded the images of the boys in swimwear. The man stated that the images of boys went “below the line” of what was acceptable. The documents stated that in 2013, the charges were dropped by police on the grounds of the man’s mental health issues, which included psychiatric evaluations and other expert opinions.. Between 2019 and 2020, the former educator began working as a teacher in a primary school on a casual employment contract. At the start of 2020, he also applied for a Queensland “Blue Card”. His application was refused. The tribunal heard that in mid-2020, the man was notified that he had been placed on the “Not To Be Employed List” by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for two years. However, in 2023, the man enrolled in a Certificate III in Early Education and Care. The tribunal stated that to “prohibit” the man from working in education and care service premises would be “punitive”. A NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority spokeswoman said the authority was “disappointed” with the tribunal’s decision to overturn the prohibition notice.