Knox teacher avoids jail for child grooming

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 sentence followed the revelation that William Gulson was due to accept a University of Sydney award the day before he learnt his punishment.

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.

Gulson was found guilty in January over a 90-minute dating app exchange in August 2024, which occurred while he was employed as an English and drama teacher at the prestigious Upper North Shore school. He gushed over the boy’s age, received intimate photos and offered to pick him up from his parents’ house.

The child’s intent was to expose paedophiles to police rather than actually meet Gulson.

Delivering sentence remarks, Judge Hugh Donnelly said the case was to “be distinguished from more serious forms of the offence” where a perpetrator has a “real relationship with the child” and meets them in person.

However, he said the “impulsive” crime had a “real potential to cause harm”.

Donnelly found beyond reasonable doubt that Gulson had an interest in children younger than 16.

Gulson was initially due to be sentenced on Thursday. However, the sentence was held over to Friday due to the arguments still to heard about what his sentence should be.

Crown Prosecutor Jessica Chan argued his resume – which was updated this year – misleadingly named him a current teacher at Knox.

He was earlier fired from the school and had his teaching accreditation revoked by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA).

“This supplementary material appears to show that the offender is willing to be dishonest,” Chan said.

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.

The award is for students with the highest marks in a master of arts unit related to Shakespeare studies. Gulson undertook postgraduate studies at the university.

Commenting on the prize, defence barrister Paul Glissan told the court: “If that’s not an indication of his brilliance, then nothing is.”

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.

“Now we’re aware [of the crime], we’ve written to Mr Gulson to revoke his invitation to tonight’s event, out of consideration for the wellbeing of all our guests,” they wrote in a statement.

“We appreciate this is a distressing situation and support is available to anyone in our community who may need it.”

It is understood the prize itself has not been terminated due to policy limitations.

Gulson gushed over boy’s age, called him ‘cute’ and ‘sweet’

In August 2024, a conversation sparked between Gulson and the teenager on the dating app Grinder.

The court heard Gulson initially thought the teen was a 26-year-old man, as that was the age listed on his profile. His display picture showed the back of a head.

However, the boy soon told him he was 15 and “looking for older men”.

Gulson said he felt “conflicted” but later asked the boy if he thought it was “hot” that he was as old as some of his students.

He saved photos of “an adolescent boy” sent by the child, replied with “wow, you’re young”, and called him “cute” and “sweet”. The teenager told him he wanted to “be with older men” who are “so fun”.

“I’ve dated older men, and I loved it,” he wrote.

After the pair discussed the boy’s age, sexual experience, and “sexual activity that might be performed”, Donnelly said, they planned a potential meet-up.

“I can come to your house”, Gulson wrote, adding he could pick the boy up to find a “quiet place” if the boy’s parents were home.

The meeting did not eventuate.

In an unlikely twist, the teenager later told police they were using Grindr to try to “catch pedos”.

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. He was arrested in September 2024, granted bail and pleaded not guilty to one count of procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity.

Gulson argued he thought he was speaking with an adult, due to the age listed on the profile.

However, Donnelly found beyond reasonable doubt that he believed the person was 15, with “overwhelming evidence” including the child’s repeated admissions about his age.

“The defendant did not use the word ‘adult’ once,” the judge said.

Donnelly rejected Gulson’s argument that he thought the other person was acting out a “role play” or “fantasy” by imitating a child.

Gulson showed ‘absolutely no sign of remorse or contrition’: prosecutor

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.

Hattingh said he thought Gulson’s search history largely showed an “interest in youthful appearance” and that he did not meet the criteria for a paedophilia disorder.

‘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.’

Crown Prosecutor Jessica Chan

Glissan argued Gulson should not record a criminal conviction, due to the offending happening on an “adult website” and against a “fictitious child”. He pointed to Hattingh’s opinion of a “very low” risk of re-offending.

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.

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