‘Sustained manipulation’: Sydney teacher allegedly groomed and abused schoolgirl for years

A Sydney high school teacher allegedly groomed a child for five years from the age of 13, forcing her to create sexual videos of herself and write humiliating words on her body.

Nathaniel Ballesta was suspended from his English teaching role at John Edmondson High School in Horningsea Park in Sydney’s south-west after he was arrested on a string of child abuse offences earlier this year.

Police say they found Ballesta, 35, in possession of thousands of videos and images exploiting children looking to be as young as six, as well as years’ worth of screen recordings of sexual content with the schoolgirl. While that child did not attend the school at which he taught, prosecutors said he used his position of trust “to identify and groom the victim over a prolonged period of time, during which the victim was subjected to sustained manipulation and abuse”.

According to a police fact sheet tendered to the Supreme Court as Ballesta was granted strict bail last week, NSW Police’s child abuse squad was alerted in May to a child abuse file that was uploaded to the cloud by an email address known to them.

After tracking down the owner of the account as Ballesta, detectives searched his house while he was home. He gave them the passwords to two iPhones and a computer. During a search of the phones, police allegedly found 200 child abuse files. The focus age group was between eight and 14, while at least one child appeared to be aged between six and eight.

On the computer, they allegedly found 4121 files saved in a folder which contained almost exclusively child abuse material.

Police allege the nature and extent of the material found indicates “a sustained and targeted interest in minors” and that Ballesta was “not only in possession of such material but actively involved in its creation”.

Upon further searches of his phones, police found “innumerable screen recordings” of interactions with the alleged victim and a chat thread on the encrypted messaging app Signal with her. While he had deleted the Signal messages, police cross-referenced his Signal call log with his screen recordings.

Investigators allegedly found numerous examples of Ballesta procuring the child for sex and causing her to produce child abuse material.

“In the messages, the victim is expressing anxiety around the accused directing her to record videos of herself,” the fact sheet reads.

“Police have observed media whereby the accused has directed the victim to create sexual images of themselves involving written content on their person for the purpose of humiliation and coercion”.

Ballesta is also accused of calling the victim and directing her to engage in sexual activity.

The fact sheet states Ballesta’s “knowledge of the victim’s personal circumstances, including their residence and school attendance, gives rise to serious concerns regarding their ongoing safety, as well as the safety of other children”.

Ballesta was refused bail upon his arrest and spent months in custody before his release on strict bail in the Supreme Court last week.