World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
Sydney teacher charged over alleged child abuse material
A teacher at a Catholic school in Wahroonga, Sydney, was dismissed after allegations involving child abuse material.
Richard Kenneth Harman, 61, was charged with five counts, including recording intimate images without consent and producing and possessing child abuse material.
Police say they found a USB drive with covert recordings of females in public and at a school, and later found recordings made on the grounds of St Leo’s Catholic College.
The allegations concern recordings from 2024, according to Catholic Schools Broken Bay.
The school system says staff, parents and students have been briefed and offered support, with student safety and wellbeing its priority.
Harman was denied bail at Hornsby Local Court and is due back in court on November 18.
A 61-year-old Sydney teacher, Richard Kenneth Harman, was charged over alleged covert recordings and child abuse material.
Police say recordings were found on a USB drive and other electronic devices, including some made on the grounds of a Wahroonga school.
Harman was charged with five counts of recording an intimate image without consent, and one count each of producing and possessing child abuse material.
His employment at St Leo’s Catholic College Wahroonga was terminated.
He was refused bail and is due to appear at Hornsby Local Court on November 18.
- Who
- Richard Kenneth Harman, a 61-year-old teacher at St Leo’s Catholic College Wahroonga.
- What
- He was charged with five counts of recording an intimate image without consent, and one count each of producing and possessing child abuse material.
- When
- He was charged on Thursday, November 5, 2026.
- Where
- The alleged recordings were found at a home in Hornsby and on the grounds of a school in Wahroonga, Sydney.
- Why
- Police investigated reports that electronic devices at a Hornsby home contained child abuse material.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Police went to a home in Hornsby after reports that electronic devices there contained child abuse material.
Harman was charged after being discharged from hospital.
His employment at St Leo’s Catholic College Wahroonga was terminated.
Harman is due to appear at Hornsby Local Court.
- Accused
- Richard Kenneth Harman, 61
- School
- St Leo’s Catholic College Wahroonga
- Police visit
- Hornsby home, Tuesday at about noon
- Charges
- Five counts of recording an intimate image without consent; one count each of producing and possessing child abuse material
- Next court date
- November 18, Hornsby Local Court
2 sources
What people are saying
This is deeply distressing news, and our main priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our students.
Staff, parents and students have been briefed and offered support.