By Riley Walter and Lucy Carroll
A prestigious Sydney private school is embroiled in a child pornography scandal after a senior student pleaded guilty to sharing child abuse material.
The Newington College student, 18, pleaded guilty in Newtown Local Court on Monday to disseminating child abuse material and left court without conviction on a conditional release order, which will remain in place until February 18, 2026.
Newington College is embroiled in a child pornography scandal after a senior student pleaded guilty to sharing child abuse material.
Police successfully applied for an apprehended violence order to protect the victim.
The 18-year-old was arrested and charged on August 15 after reports of a video circulating of another student.
In a letter to students and parents last Friday, Newington College deputy headmaster Andy Quinane said safety was the school’s priority.
Quinane said the college had worked closely with families, police and staff in relation to an incident involving three boys.
Newington College has been dealing with fallout over a controversial decision to admit girls.Credit: Steven Siewert
“We encourage everyone to allow the college and the police to do their job. Respect for the boys’ privacy and not interfering with police investigations means we cannot share more at this stage. For the welfare of our students, we also ask people not to speculate as much as possible,” he said.
“[Students] have now been briefed by senior college staff and support and welfare structures have been put in place.”
In a subsequent letter sent to parents and staff on Wednesday night, Quinane said the college has been “working closely with students, families, staff and police to manage the matter with sensitivity”.
“Over the past week, the College has been working to resolve an incident which occurred at the boarding house. The college notified police of the incident, as is a legal requirement for all schools for matters of this nature,” he said.
“All students in the boarding house were briefed and supported from the beginning, as their welfare has been our number one priority, and this will continue to be the case.
“As you would appreciate this is an extremely delicate matter, given the students involved, which also attracts privacy law restrictions. So, we are being very careful about what we say and how we say it.”
A Newington spokesperson said the school was continuing to work with the boys and their families before determining next steps.
The scandal comes as the Stanmore school deals with the fallout over a controversial decision to admit girls to the more than century-old all-boys school from 2026.
Earlier this month, a group of anti-coeducation campaigners failed in their effort to overturn the move after being defeated in an attempt to secure places on the old boys’ council.
Newington announced late last year that it would admit girls in the junior school within the next two years, and become a fully co-educational campus by 2033.
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