A former Knox Grammar teacher has avoided jail for grooming a child, with a judge ruling it could still have caused harm despite the teenager acting as a vigilante in an attempt to “catch pedos”.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to a three-year community correction order – essentially a good behaviour bond – at Downing Centre Local Court on Friday for procuring whom he thought was a 15-year-old child for sex.
He was also placed on the NSW Child Protection Register.
The former teacher unsuccessfully fought to have no criminal conviction recorded so that he could return to teaching, while the court heard his resume falsely claimed he was still a teacher.
The resume was tendered alongside a written reference that said Gulson had received the University of Sydney’s John Bell and Joyce Williams Prize in Shakespeare Studies.
In response to questions about the circumstances surrounding Gulson’s invitation to the ceremony, given his serious offending, a University of Sydney spokesperson confirmed the invite had been scrapped on Thursday afternoon.
Gulson came undone when the student told friends about the chats and the matter was reported to police. The teacher was recognisable in photos found on a device.
On Thursday, Chan grilled Gulson’s treating psychologist Carl Hattingh on his opinion that his client did not have a sexual interest in children, given he searched more than 100 terms relating to “gay child porn”, child abuse and similar phrases.
Chan, however, put the re-offending risk at above average.
“There is absolutely no sign of remorse or contrition or acknowledgement of harm whatsoever expressed by the offender,” Chan said.
“In no sense… could a teacher of a 15-year-old child seeking to procure a 15-year-old child for unlawful sexual activity be described as trivial offending”.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Gulson attended Knox and graduated in 2014.
In 2023, he received a “Living Our Values” award from the Knox Grammar School Council.
Source: Sydney Uni revokes invitation for former Knox teacher William Gulson