The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-09 · by Clare Sibthorpe
Nathaniel Ballesta, a 35-year-old English teacher from Sydney's John Edmondson High School, has been arrested for allegedly grooming and abusing a minor over five years. Police found thousands of videos and images involving children as young as six on his devices, including hundreds related to the victim who was manipulated into creating sexual content starting at age 13. Prosecutors claim Ballesta used his position to exploit the child, forcing her to write humiliating messages on herself and engage in sexual activity while recording it, according to a police fact sheet presented during bail proceedings last week.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A 32-year-old teacher named Deandra Kontou at Newington College in Sydney has been charged with nine offenses related to the alleged rape and sexual abuse of a teenage boy. The incidents reportedly began while Kontou was teaching in Stanmore and continued during a school trip to Fitzroy Island on the Great Barrier Reef, where she is accused of twice sexually touching him before assaulting him between 10 PM and 11 PM. After another teacher reported the allegations, Kontou was removed from the trip and later suspended by senior staff at Newington College.
In Melbourne, Kam Kenny-Jones, a former teacher at Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC), has been charged with one count of sexual assault involving a student under 17. The school immediately terminated his employment after concerns were raised in September and reported the matter to Victoria Police.
Meanwhile, in Carrollton, Texas, Gloria Resendiz, a 35-year-old teacher at Hebron High School, turned herself into police following an investigation that revealed she had been grooming a female student through social media interactions over several months.
Written for “School Teacher Sex Abuse Charges” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
A Sydney high school teacher allegedly groomed a child for five years from the age of 13, forcing her to create sexual videos of herself and write humiliating words on her body.
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teacher → groom → body
Nathaniel Ballesta was suspended from his English teaching role at John Edmondson High School in Horningsea Park in Sydney’s south-west after he was arrested on a string of child abuse offences earlier this year.
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he → suspend → offences
Police say they found Ballesta, 35, in possession of thousands of videos and images exploiting children looking to be as young as six, as well as years’ worth of screen recordings of sexual content with the schoolgirl.
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they → say → schoolgirl
While that child did not attend the school at which he taught, prosecutors said he used his position of trust “to identify and groom the victim over a prolonged period of time, during which the victim was subjected to sustained manipulation and abuse”.
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victim → attend → manipulation
According to a police fact sheet tendered to the Supreme Court as Ballesta was granted strict bail last week, NSW Police’s child abuse squad was alerted in May to a child abuse file that was uploaded to the cloud by an email address known to them.
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that → accord → them
After tracking down the owner of the account as Ballesta, detectives searched his house while he was home.
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he → track → house
He gave them the passwords to two iPhones and a computer.
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He → give → iPhones
During a search of the phones, police allegedly found 200 child abuse files.
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police → find → files
The focus age group was between eight and 14, while at least one child appeared to be aged between six and eight.
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child → appear → six
On the computer, they allegedly found 4121 files saved in a folder which contained almost exclusively child abuse material.
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which → find → material
Police allege the nature and extent of the material found indicates “a sustained and targeted interest in minors” and that Ballesta was “not only in possession of such material but actively involved in its creation”.
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Ballesta → allege → creation
Ballesta was arrested and taken to Campbelltown police station.
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Ballesta → arrest → station
Upon further searches of his phones, police found “innumerable screen recordings” of interactions with the alleged victim and a chat thread on the encrypted messaging app Signal with her.
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police → find → her
While he had deleted the Signal messages, police cross-
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police → delete → messages
‘The victim was subjected to sustained manipulation and abuse.’Police fact sheet
Investigators allegedly found numerous examples of Ballesta procuring the child for sex and causing her to produce child abuse material.
“In the messages, the victim is expressing anxiety around the accused directing her to record videos of herself,” the fact sheet reads.
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sheet → subject → herself
“Police have observed media whereby the accused has directed the victim to create sexual images of themselves involving written content on their person for the purpose of humiliation and coercion”.
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accused → observe → humiliation
Ballesta is also accused of calling the victim and directing her to engage in sexual activity.
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Ballesta → accuse → activity
The fact sheet states Ballesta’s “knowledge of the victim’s personal circumstances, including their residence and school attendance, gives rise to serious concerns regarding their ongoing safety, as well as the safety of other children”.
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knowledge → state → children
‘Police have observed media whereby the accused has directed the victim to create sexual images of themselves.’Police fact sheet
Ballesta was refused bail upon his arrest and spent months in custody before his release on strict bail in the Supreme Court last week.
The court heard he has ties with the Philippines and Canada, but his primary support is in Australia.
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support → observe → Australia
Opposing bail, prosecutors argued there were unacceptable risks of further online offending and contact or attempted contact with the alleged victim.
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prosecutors → oppose → victim
“This is a matter where the known complainant has been contacted by the applicant for five years,” the prosecutor said.
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prosecutor → know → years
“It is a persistent, long-standing grooming situation, and the Crown and police hold concerns for the ongoing safety of her in this matter.”
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Crown → stand → matter
However, the defence argued that stringent conditions could sufficiently mitigate bail concerns.
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conditions → argue → concerns
Justice Sarah McNaughton ultimately granted strict bail on a $300,000 surety with home detention, daily police reporting and a ban on physical contact with minors.
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McNaughton → grant → minors
Ballesta must surrender his passport, stay at least 500 metres away from international departure points and not contact the victim or any prosecution witness.
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Ballesta → surrender → victim
He is banned from possessing or using any encrypted messaging applications or internet-capable device, except to engage with government services.
Ballesta has not yet pleaded to one count of using a device to engage with sexual activity of a child, two counts of using a device to procure sexual activity from a child under 16, three counts of causing a child aged over 14 to make child abuse material, one count of producing child abuse material, one count of using a device to engage with sexual activity of a child and three counts of possessing child abuse material.
He will next face the Local Court in November.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
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Support → ban → stories
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