Samuel Thomas Lyon, 33, of Tongala, pleaded guilty in the Echuca Magistrates’ Court to producing child abuse material, involving a child in the production of child abuse material, sharing child abuse material, possessing child abuse material and assault.
Lyon placed his phone on the shelf of a storage area of a classroom and filmed up to eight female students getting changed while he was a staff member at Tongala Primary School in February 2024.
Police found out about the video from Lyon, and it hadn’t been recovered.
He inappropriately touched a female student at the primary school while conducting activities on October 13, 2023.
In documents submitted to the court, the student said Lyon “made her feel uncomfortable”.
The offending was reported to the Central Victoria Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Team after it was reported to the school principal.
Lyon denied the assault to police but acknowledged his behaviour was inappropriate.
He had been put on a management plan by the school that had come about due to a parent complaint about inappropriate behaviour towards a different female student.
In documents submitted to the court, police said they found 510 child abuse material files over three phones they seized from Lyon’s home in February 2024.
Of those, 491 images and one video were evaluated as category one, or the worst under the Interpol Baseline Scale, and 15 images were evaluated as category two.
The court heard he was also exchanging child abuse files online over a period of months.
In documents submitted to the court, police said during his interview, Lyon appeared to show remorse for his actions and acknowledged that he needed help.
He told police he deleted images from his phone, but would “relapse” into seeking more images on multiple occasions.
In sentencing him, magistrate Megan Aumair said Lyon “grossly breached the trust” of children and parents at Tongala Primary School.
She said the offending was “somewhat thrill-seeking” because he’d deleted the video later that day knowing it was wrong.
The court heard before the offending, the girls were described as “fun-loving, carefree, trusting and bubbly”, but the impact of the offending was “profoundly felt” and they now had “trust, anxiety and fear” issues.
Ms Aumair said the girls did nothing wrong, and they should feel no shame or guilt.
Ms Aumair acknowledged Lyon co-operated with police, even expressing “relief in assisting them”.
She also noted Lyon had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and prison time would “weigh more heavily” on him.
Lyon was sentenced to 10 months in prison followed by an 18-month community corrections order.
He must comply with sex offender reporting obligations for the rest of his life.
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