Former Shepparton teacher sentenced over sexual assault

The court had earlier heard Akdere offered for the woman to stay in a spare room at his house when she came to Shepparton in 2017.

The court summary documents show the woman had met Akdere, a then Shepparton High School teacher, and did not feel worried about staying at his home.

Prosecutor Madeleine Sargent told the court, at the house on the night before the assault, the woman gave Akdere a “brief side hug” to comfort him when he told her he was not happy in his marriage.

The next morning Akdere came into the woman’s bedroom fully dressed and said he had just dropped his wife at work.

He then kissed her hand, forehead and cheek before taking off his jacket and shoes and getting into the bed, Ms Sargent said.

The court heard Akdere touched the woman’s breasts and then got on top of her and tried to kiss her.

The woman tried to push him off before he touched her vagina, Ms Sargent said.

The woman screamed “I’m on my period” and he replied “well no luck then” before leaving the room, Ms Sargent said.

He sat at the back of the room when she was at the school that day and at the end of the day followed her to her car and said ‘‘you’re a special friend, please just forget about it’’.

The court heard the man was confronted by the woman’s bosses and he told one of them he had entered her bedroom.

He did not go into specifics but said ‘‘he wished he had never done it’’ and that ‘‘he misread the signs and thought she was interested in him and he was extremely remorseful,’’ Ms Sargent said.

When he was interviewed by police in March, 2020, the English teacher for multicultural students said the woman had given him “a snuggly hug” on the couch, but denied any sexual contact with her.

Akdere’s barrister Christopher Farrington told the court his client was a man of “exemplary character” and been a meaningful contributor to the Turkish, educational and Chinese communities.

On Tuesday, Mr Farrington handed up several references which he said showed his client was “a man well respected, much loved and held in the highest regard by those who came across him as a teacher and in the community”.

He also said Akdere had been punished by no longer being able to work as a teacher because of the charges.

“Teaching was more that a job… it was something that has engulfed his life,” Mr Farrington said.

While the defence asked for a fine, prosecutor Thomas Crouch instead called for a community corrections order, saying that there was “an element of a breach of trust” as the woman had been at the house in a work context.

Addressing the man’s previous good character, Mr Crouch said the offence occurred in part because of this, as the woman had trusted him.

Magistrate Lance Martin placed Akdere on a 12-month community corrections order.

“The fact that you are so high standing in the community led to the complainant having so much trust in you and you abused that trust,” Mr Martin said.

“A fine could address general deterrence and denunciation, but it doesn’t address the issue of his rehabilitation,” he said.

Conditions of the community corrections order include that Akdere complete 250 hours of community work and undergo offending behaviour programs.

Up to 50 hours of the programs can be counted towards the community work hours.