CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses image based abuse and may be distressing to some readers.
A Sydney high school teacher who was caught upskirting his female students and recording footage of their cleavage has appealed his sentence.
Eric Wong, 29, was jailed on Wednesday for 14 months, with a minimum sentence of six months, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of filming another person’s private parts without consent. However, he was released on bail two hours later after his lawyers appealed his sentence to the District Court.
Wong taught science at Cammeraygal High School in Crows Nest, and his “high-level betrayal” was discovered by a student in his classroom.
According to a police statement, Wong invited a female student to the front of the classroom to his workbench on a Friday, where she completed a task on his computer.
When she was at the desk, the “victim took a step backward and knocked her body into a free-standing smart board”, police facts state per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“When the victim knocked and moved the smart board backward, the victim saw a mobile phone that had been purposely placed on the ground leaning in an upwards position leaning against the smart board fall to the ground,” the statement read.
Wong then picked up the mobile phone, and made a comment that he “left it there previously”. When the student asked about it, he “changed the conversation immediately”.
The student felt that she was being filmed, and alerted her parents. The following Monday they held a meeting with the principal Kathy Melky and police were called. He was arrested and charged 10 days later, and was stood down from the Cammeraygal High School.
The police statement said a search of Wong’s home revealed 300 photos of girls buttocks, breasts and crotch areas, and 90 videos that Wong made of female students wearing the school uniform (which consists of a pleated black and red skirt and a white blouse).
In the videos, it appeared Wong was walking around his classroom with the mobile device recording. Only female students were targeted.
“The accused walks up next to or behind the female student and whilst talking to them or observing them undertaking their science experiment the accused discreetly positions his mobile phone in position to film private parts (buttocks, anus, groin) underneath the female student’s pleated school dress,” the police facts said, per SMH.
“In some video files, the accused can be seen talking to the female victims and then glance towards his mobile phone, the mobile phone is then repositioned making sure he is capturing the stated areas of the female body.”
Police said he also “discreetly position[ed]” the camera to record female students’ breasts and stomach under their blouse, which was a loose fit.
“The forensic examination of video files demonstrates the brazen, predatory and opportunist behaviour of the accused, preying on female school students in his science and iSTEM classes,” the police facts state.
Magistrate Alexander Mivojich said in Hornsby Local Court on Wednesday that Wong had “abused your position of trust and authority with multiple victims” and his actions required “a degree of planning”.
“These occurred in the confines of a school where the victims and their families are entitled to feel safe from predatory behaviour, which this can only be described as,” Mijovich said.
“As a teacher, you were taking photos of parts of their bodies close to them, under their dresses.
“You fully understood this was clearly inappropriate conduct.
“This is high-level betrayal, this is not opportunistic. Protection of the community and the girls at school … is paramount.”
The judge sentenced Wong to 14 months in prison, however his barrister Peter Givorshner argued Wong should be served an intensive correction order in the community after a psychological report found he had autism.
Givorshner argued that Wong wouldn’t be able to get the therapy he needs from prison, and told the court he would launch an appeal.
Mijovich disagreed, but conceded that the District Court “may have a different view, they may be convinced”.
Wong has been released on conditional bail until his sentence is appealed in the District Court. He must surrender his passport, not go near any of his former students, live with his parents in Surry Hills, and not post any science tutorials to his social media account.
Recording, sharing, or threatening to share an intimate image without consent is a criminal offence across much of Australia. If you’d like to report image based abuse to police or get help removing an intimate image from social media, reach out to the Australian eSafety Commissioner here.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about image based abuse, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
