By Jessica McSweeney and Clare Sibthorpe
A mathematics teacher at a large south-west Sydney Catholic high school has been charged with sexually assaulting a female student.
Police will allege Roj Dalisay, 28, sexually assaulted a student at Mount Carmel Catholic College in Varroville, near Campbelltown, between 2020 and 2021.
Roj Dalisay at court on Wednesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Court documents show he allegedly assaulted the student on four occasions between November 2021 and December 2022 in Gregory Hills and in Wollongong.
Police began investigating in July 2023 when the Catholic Education Office became aware of the alleged incident and made a report to local police.
Dalisay worked as a maths teacher on a temporary contract, which was renewed in 2021. A spokesperson for the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong said Dalisay was stood down from his position after the allegations were made in 2023.
Dalisay was arrested at Auburn police station on Tuesday and charged with three counts of the aggravated sexual assault of a victim under his authority and one count of aggravated sexual touching of another person.
Dalisay worked as a teacher at Mount Carmel Catholic College, near Campbelltown.
“After the CEO [Catholic Education Office] was notified by the college of the employee’s alleged actions, we implemented our established procedures. This involved reporting to NSW Police and notifying the Office of the Children’s Guardian,” the spokesperson for the local diocese said.
“The CEO and Mount Carmel Catholic College have been assisting police with their investigations – including by co-ordinating the provision of support, the standing down of the employee, and other actions taken by the college in relation to this matter – and will continue to do so.”
Dalisay on Wednesday faced Burwood Local Court, where he was granted bail.
According to court documents, Dalisay had sexual intercourse without the student’s consent, and under the aggravating circumstance that he was a teacher, in Wollongong on November 20 as well as in Gregory Hills, in Sydney’s south-west, on three dates across 2021 and 2022.
He is also accused of sexually touching the student without her consent between December 2021 and December 2022 at Gregory Hills.
The prosecution had opposed the granting of bail, citing risks of failing to appear at court, endangering the safety of the victim and interfering with witnesses.
The court heard Dalisay was living at a boarding school before he was suspended over the allegations and then moved to the Sunshine Coast to live with family.
He returned to NSW in the past 10 days and stayed in a short-term rental property before he handed himself in to police, the court heard.
“He doesn’t have support in NSW,” the prosecutor said.
“It is a strong police case – there were some admissions made to these serious offences.”
But his lawyer argued he did have support in NSW, with his aunt and uncle offering to have him to live with them in Muswellbrook.
Dalisay’s father also supported him in court.
His lawyer said he had no criminal record, he could forfeit his passport and his father could offer up a $15,000 surety.
Magistrate Chris Halburd granted bail, saying his community ties were “fairly weak” but his aunt and uncle could support him.
“I can’t see how he could endanger the safety of the complainant,” Halburd said.
“He handed himself in to police, he’s got a nil criminal history … they’re serious charges and it’s a fairly strong prosecution case with a likely custodial sentence, but it seems you can’t say it’s an unacceptable risk.”
Dalisay was required to report to police twice a week, hand his passport over and stay away from any international points of departure.
He has not entered any pleas and will next face Campbelltown Local Court on November 6.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and the Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) for people aged 5 to 25.1800RESPECT
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