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The young woman told the court Ho’s actions deeply harmed her understanding of appropriate relationships and left her with anxiety and deep fears about being taken advantage of.
“For the last three years my trauma has echoed in me like a haunted house,” she said.
“No parent should feel worried for their kids at school while they’re at school, and no student, let alone a child, should feel unsafe around their educators.”
Ho was also charged with grooming another student in 2019, whom he befriended during a school camp.
The court heard the humanities teacher favoured her over other students, fed her “pizza by hand”, sat alone with her on a couch and was “teasing [her] in a flirtatious manner”.
When the girl added Ho on social media he asked her questions of a sexual nature, including whether she was a virgin, and the size of her breasts.
Ho told her he would take her lingerie shopping, and when she didn’t send him a photo he sent her a photo of himself in the shower.
The disgraced teacher went on to work at Haileybury College, until he was arrested in August 2022.
During a police search of his home they uncovered 93 serious child abuse videos on his phone.
Ho’s lawyer, Esan Pilai, conceded his client’s conduct was “entirely inappropriate” but argued the crimes would fall in the lower end for seriousness.
He said Ho’s offending was driven by a need for attention, that started when he began sharing his “body builder journey” on social media and that’s when he started to “blur the lines”.
“It got to the point where he was distorting and obfuscating his clear boundaries that existed as a teacher,” Pilai said.
Prosecutors argued for a term of imprisonment with a non-parole period, as there was an egregious breach of trust.
Haileybury College’s then vice-principal sent a note to families after Ho’s arrest saying the teacher was barred from attending school property or having any contact with students, in person or online.
The Victorian Institute for Teaching suspended Ho’s registration in 2022.
Ho will remain on bail until he is sentenced on November 13.
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