The damning text messages from former Knox teacher who procured student for sex

A former teacher at Sydney’s prestigious Knox Grammar procured a child for sex over the dating app Grindr, by exchanging intimate photos and audio recordings, planning to meet up and discussing potential sexual activity.

William Roberto Gulson, who taught English and drama at Knox, unsuccessfully fought allegations relating to a 15-year-old student, a fictitious person created by a different student who told police they were using the dating app to try to “catch pedos”.

On Tuesday, parents of children dialled into Downing Centre Local Court as the 28-year-old was found guilty of procuring a child for sex over the dating app exchange in August 2024.

Outlining the prosecution’s case, Magistrate Hugh Donnelly said a 16-year-old student created a fake Grindr profile which publicly purported to be a 26-year-old man, with a profile picture showing the back of a head.

Once a conversation was struck up between Gulson and the profile user, the 16-year-old told him that he was a 15-year-old year nine student who was “looking for older men”.

Throughout a contested local court hearing, Gulson argued he believed he was speaking with an adult, due to the age listed on the profile.

This was despite him sending messages reading: “Do you find it hot that you are as old as some of my students?” and “I feel conflicted”. Donnelly said the latter message signalled “some kind of hesitation, given that this occurs immediately after [the teenager] says he is 15”.

The child sent several photos of “an adolescent boy”, which Gulson immediately saved to his phone and replied with messages including “a cute boy”, “wow, you’re young”, “super young” and “such a sweet boy”.

The teenager messaged: “I want to be with older men. They are so fun. I’ve dated older men, and I loved it.”

Gulson told the boy he hoped he didn’t teach him, and the boy responded “pretty unlikely”.

The pair discussed his age and school, sexual experience, and “sexual activity that might be performed”, Donnelly said.

Speaking about meeting up, Gulson wrote, “I can travel. I can come to your house”. He said it was “a shame” that the teenager’s parents would be home soon and “encouraged him to seek out a home” for sexual activity.

“I can pick you up when you find a quiet place,” Gulson wrote.

When the boy sent an audio message, Gulson replied: “Year Nine!” He responded with a recording again, expressing shock at his age.

The boy sent a photo of a year 9 classmate and discussed potential sexual activity with them.

Gulson submitted that he still believed he was conversing with a man in his 20s, even after these exchanges, and at one point suspected the teenager was a chatbot.

Donnelly said there was “overwhelming evidence” and found beyond reasonable doubt that he thought he was speaking with a 15-year-old.

“The defendant did not use the word ‘adult’ once,” he said.

The magistrate said Gulson’s account was “inherently improbable and implausible” given the child’s repeated admissions about his age and that his testimony – including claiming that he thought an adult was acting out a “role play” or “fantasy” by imitating a child – was “unconvincing”.

The court heard Gulson searched “gay child porn” nine days before the offending, as well as other inappropriate searches about children that are too graphic to detail.

A police investigation was sparked when the real teenager told friends about the chat and Gulson was identified through photos he had sent. Gulson was arrested in September and has been on bail since.

The teenager told police they were “trying to catch pedos and… thought it would be funny”, Donnelly said, adding they were finding “random people” to “scare”, “mess with” and threaten to “call the cops” on.

Gulson denied having a sexual attraction to children.

As he heard the guilty verdict, Gulson looked at a man sitting next to him and held his hand.

Following Gulson’s arrest, Knox headmaster Scott James wrote to parents to say the “alleged exchange occurred outside school hours and premises and did not involve any school IT equipment”.

“When this was brought to our attention, the teacher concerned was immediately removed from the school and his employment was terminated,” said the headmaster of the school, which charges annual fees of up to $45,000.