Sydney eastern suburbs teacher charged over alleged sexual relationship with student

A Sydney teacher has been charged after he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl at a private school in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Police arrested Ben Fenner, 34, at a Mascot cafe last Friday and charged him with 11 counts of having sexual intercourse with a person under his care at Reddam House, a school with campuses at Woollahra and Bondi.

The senior biology teacher was granted conditional bail and is expected to face Downing Centre Local Court on August 26.

Today, Reddam House principal Dave Pitcairn wrote a letter to parents, informing them the teacher had been stood down pending the outcome of his court matter.

“This matter is regarded by the school as extremely serious,” Mr Pitcairn said.

“Duty of care towards and respect for students is fundamental at Reddam and the school does not tolerate any form of inappropriate or illegal behaviour,” he said.

Mr Pitcairn said he understood the former student, who graduated last year, made a report with police recently and Mr Fenner was stood down when the school learned of his charges.

“We are determined to support the former student and minimise as much as we can the impact on them and on the wider school community,” he said.

According to Mr Fenner's LinkedIn profile, he has taught at Reddam for more than four years and was the coordinator for the school’s Duke of Edinburgh Award program.

NSW Police child abuse and sex crimes detectives began an investigation in July this year after reports the teacher and student had engaged in a sexual relationship last year when she was student at the school.