<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A former private school teacher who sent messages detailing sexual contact to a minor will serve his time in the community rather than a jail cell.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>William Roberto Gulson had been teaching at </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="" title="Sydney"><span>Sydney</span></a><span>'s elite Knox Grammar School and tutoring privately, before embarking on a 90-minute online exchange with someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy in 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In reality, it was a 14-year-old who, along with another teen, was running a fake profile on LGBTQI dating app Grindr in an attempt to catch pedophiles.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-tariffs-struck-down-trade-court-usa-politics-news/75365316-b98f-4493-980d-a15354c855bc"><strong><span>Court strikes down Donald Trump's 10 per cent tariffs on everyone</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gulson stood frozen as he was sentenced to a three-year community bond and ordered to complete 400 hours of community service in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/courts" rel="" target="" title="Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court"><span>Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court</span></a><span> today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 28-year-old will also appear on the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/new-south-wales" rel="" target="" title="NSW"><span>NSW</span></a><span> child protection register for eight years, is obliged to report any new tattoos and is barred from online gaming platforms that allow communication with children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gulson had testified the conversation amounted to a lapse in judgment as he was multitasking, marking papers.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/william-roberto-gulson-court-updates-no-jail-for-teacher-over-gross-sexual-texts-to-child/466d904e-ef3a-480f-909f-0fa99b0d782c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judge Hugh Donnelly slammed the former English and drama master's account of the text exchange as "improbable, implausible and inconsistent with the logical course of events" as he handed down his judgment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said Gulson telling the teenager he was "super conflicted" revealed the former educator knew what he was doing was wrong.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The teacher has acknowledged his correspondent was "young, super young", the court was told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Once the conversation began, the defendant was very deliberate in terms of expression and keenness," Donnelly said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/isis-brides-australia-costs-two-million-taxpayer-bill-monitoring-rehabilitation-welfare-explained/1cc42ff2-b3dc-415c-810e-7a75327b46b9"><strong><span>Australian taxpayers to foot $2 million 'ISIS bride' bill</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gulson had a sexual interest in children, he determined when he found the former teacher guilty of procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity in January.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had browsed for child abuse material and rape scenes, lodging 166 searches of pornography sites showing teenage boys during a three-month period in 2024, Judge Donnelly said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He described Gulson's texts to the 15-year-old as "extremely explicit", mentioning kissing and licking, spotlighting a message which read "do you find it (sic) hot you're the same age as my students?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gulson also said he would be happy to meet up, encouraging the teen to sneak out of their parents' house so they could find a "quiet place" for sexual activity, the court was previously told.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the teenager deleted the Grindr account before any rendezvous occurred and was not harmed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Donnelly said Gulson's conduct had a "real potential for harm", but took the loss of his teaching career into account when imposing the sentence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He took a "guarded view" of Gulson's prospect of rehabilitation, pointing out he had "cast himself as the victim" because the child he was messaging was "a civilian with malicious intent".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The former teacher has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service on 1800 211 028, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25).</span></strong></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>© AAP 2026</span></div></div>