A homosexual western Sydney high school drama teacher who pinned a student against a staffroom desk and kissed him has been spared jail.
Tyson Moon, 26, who has been terminated from his role at Plumpton High School, was found guilty for three counts of sexually touching a child under special care after being charged in November last year.
He faced Mt Druitt Local Court on Wednesday where Magistrate James Gibson sentenced him to a two-year community corrections order and an additional 200 hours of community service, the Blacktown Advocate reported.
The sentence came after Moon’s new lawyer told the court his client was bullied growing up, suffered depression and other mental health issued, and was immature.
The court previously heard that Moon pulled the teenage boy aside and told him that he was in love with him, and the student – who previously viewed Moon as a mentor and father figure – said in a police interview that he did not say anything because “everyone knows the worst thing to do is make Mr Moon angry at you”.
The pair then exchanged 1,000 messages on WhatsApp, and the court heard Moon had been given temporary permission to contact students during an event in case of an emergency but was supposed to block them afterwards.
The victim said he did not want a romantic relationship with Moon, who he had previously considered his “best friend”.
“Most of the time when he kissed me, I knew it was wrong, I always knew I had to deal with it and just accept it … I was so disgusted … I felt like I just had to accept it,” he said.
The court heard that Moon told his victim their relationship was just “pure love” and they would have to wait until the student was 18 to have “sexual relations”.
During a previous court hearing Moon did not deny kissing the student on multiple occasions, but argued his conduct was not of a sexual nature, as there was no nudity or touching of genitalia.
But prosecutor William Jabbour said a relationship between a teacher and student was sexual by default, and “teachers don’t kiss students on the lips”.
“What reasonable person would say that’s not sexual?” he asked.
The Education Department said Moon is now on a “do not hire” list.
Header image: Tyson Moon (supplied).
