Updated ,first published
A Sydney teacher who works at prestigious private school Newington College has been charged with grooming a 14-year-old girl online.
Benjamin David Collinge, 29, has been accused of encouraging the teenager to send sexually explicit material in exchange for money when the pair were communicating on social media.
At about 5.45am on Thursday, detectives conducted a search at an address in Beecroft, in Sydney’s north, and arrested Collinge.
He was taken to Gladesville Police Station and charged with using a carriage service to groom a minor and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
The arrest was conducted as part of Strike Force Trawler, an ongoing investigation by the state’s Sex Crimes Squad Child Exploitation Unit into sexual abuse and exploitation of children on the internet.
Collinge was refused bail and will face court on Thursday.
Newington is one of Sydney’s most expensive private boys’ schools, but is transitioning to become fully co-ed by 2033.
The annual tuition at Newington ranges from $27,819 for kindergarten students to $48,141 for Year 12 students.
The school has been contacted for comment.
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