A senior teacher at Sydney’s prestigious Knox Grammar school has been charged with an alleged child grooming offence.
The teacher, 27-year-old William Gulson, was arrested in Wahroonga on Friday after an investigation into allegations he had groomed a child online.
He was taken to Hornsby police station and charged with one count of procuring or grooming a child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity.
Gulson was refused bail and was due to appear before Parramatta local court on Saturday afternoon.
In a letter to parents published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Scott James, Knox Grammar’s headmaster, said that when the allegations were brought to the school’s attention, “the teacher concerned was immediately removed from the school and his employment was terminated”.
“We are informed that the alleged exchange occurred outside school hours and premises and did not involve any school IT equipment,” James wrote.
“Knox is a child safe environment and in this situation, we took immediate precautionary action and worked with Police.”
James said the school would continue to provide “timely and transparent” communication on the matter “when possible” without compromising police and court processes.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Gulson was an English and drama teacher at at the school, as well as a year 7 mentor. He was also a previous student of Knox Grammar, according to the profile.
Knox Grammar is a private school on Sydney’s north shore.
