Former Victorian teacher receives community order for soliciting child abuse stories
Harley James Caldwell, a former teacher from Irymple Secondary College, pleaded guilty to requesting sexual stories about under-age boys and was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
In a County Court hearing, former Irymple Secondary College teacher Harley James Caldwell admitted to soliciting child-abuse material by requesting sexual stories about boys younger than 15 via the encrypted platforms TeleGuard and Telegram. He contacted an account identified as RandomDude in January of two consecutive years and later messaged another user, CrazedSpirit, in June 2025. While the conversations included explicit descriptions, no visual material was exchanged.
Prosecutor Holly Baxter argued the offences were serious, but defence lawyer Marko Habib presented expert reports stating Caldwell lacked a pedophilic attraction, describing his motive as seeking approval from the online interlocutors. Judge Michael Patrick Bourke, acknowledging Caldwell’s depressive episode, early plea and participation in treatment, sentenced him to an 18-month community corrections order, 200 hours of unpaid work, and ongoing mental-health monitoring. The order will take effect on December 10, and may require Caldwell to return to Victoria if it cannot be transferred to South Australia, where he now lives.
Why it matters
The case highlights how online platforms can be used to facilitate child-abuse material requests and the courts' approach to sentencing such offences.
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