A Christian college in Melbourne’s east was repeatedly warned by staff about the inappropriate behaviour of former teacher Steven Mellody more than four years before he was charged with dozens of serious sexual assault offences involving female students.
Mellody, 37, pleaded guilty last month to more than 50 offences against two students at St Andrews Christian College in Wantirna South, including multiple counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16 and the sexual assault of a child under 16.
Documents show colleagues at St Andrews Christian College in Wantirna South warned the school about the conduct of teacher Steven Mellody.
An investigation by The Age can reveal that Mellody also appears to have been tipped off by another senior teacher about staff complaints made against him and a plan by some students to expose his predatory behaviour.
“Heads up…if you still message students…..which I’m sure you don’t…..I heard last night some of the senior girls are wanting to catch you out saying inappropriate stuff to students….have no idea who or why but just a word of warning. Sorry to put a dampener on your day, just want to have your back,” according to an SMS sent to Mellody on June 30 2019 by a leader at the college.
“All I’ve got sorry not more specific teacher (or) kids only get snippets,” the senior colleague warned Mellody.
“I’m sure it will all blow over as usual,” the SMS message to Mellody stated.
Mellody, who had worked as a sport co-ordinator at the private school since 2013, sexually assaulted his victims in his office, in the school’s gym and library and on a school camp. They were groomed with thousands of sexualised SMS messages on WhatsApp – often referring to them as “Bobo” or “Bbygirl”.
His offending was only detected when one of Mellody’s victims was caught sneaking into her bedroom by her parents, who contacted police the following day.
Serious questions have now emerged about the adequacy of the college’s response to repeated staff complaints about Mellody since 2016, with one teacher so concerned she kept a log of his interactions with female students.
St Andrews Christian College, Wantirna South, principal Catriona Wansbrough.
The same teacher also took photographs of Mellody touching or in close proximity to students, but was instructed to delete the images, according to legal documents obtained by The Age.
The teacher first alerted the college principal, Catriona Wansbrough, on April 18, 2016, about Mellody’s regular meetings with female students, which sometimes took place outside school hours.
Ms Wansbrough was again warned by the teacher on June 4, 2016, according to documents obtained by The Age.
In an email on October 11, 2016, Merrick Brewer, the head of learning and teaching at St Andrews Christian College, advised Ms Wansbrough that one teacher had seen Mellody touching a student’s hair, while another teacher witnessed him returning from sand dunes with a young female student while on a school camp.
On the same day, Ms Wansbrough instructed Mr Brewer that she had spoken to Mellody about staff concerns.
She said his explanation of why he was alone with the student “sounded feasible,” but said she had instructed Mellody that “if he was found alone with a student or touches a student without a very sound reason his position here is to be terminated,” according to her email reply on the same day.
The following day, Mellody was spoken to by then Head of Middle School Daniel Lee, who said he needed to be seen more in the staff room at recess and lunchtime, or playing sport with male students.
St Andrews Christian College in Wantirna South. Credit:Eddie Jim.
“From my conversation with Steve, he seems very ready to change perceptions and take the right steps to get there,” Mr Lee said in an email to Ms Wansbrough on October 12, 2016.
However, the complaints about Mellody’s conduct continued, and his predatory behaviour appeared to be an open secret among many students, who referred to him as “Mr Pedo” on social media. One male student left the private school after he was caught calling Mellody a “c—” on social media.
On February 2, 2019, a teacher contacted Mr Lee again and raised concerns about Mellody attending a school camp as a leader.
“You are aware that I have expressed concern about him previously in another context … if anything did go wrong as a result of his involvement with students under his care, this could have serious implications for the school,” the teacher said in an email on February 2, 2019.
In another email on August 20, 2019, a teacher contacted Yvonne Hughes, the head of the junior school at the college, wanting to discuss the school’s failure to respond to her concerns about Mellody.
“Could I please chat to you about this at some stage? Steve should not allow the students to get so involved with him, and he has been warned before, but it still continues,” the teacher said in an email.
“Steve should not allow the students to get so involved with him, and he has been warned before, but it still continues.”
The teacher told Ms Hughes that she had a “sleepless night” thinking about one female student, whom she named in the email.
The same girl was a victim of Mellody and formed part of the criminal case against him.
St Andrews Christian College did not respond to questions from The Age, but released a statement responding to the allegations.
“Mr Mellody, former registered teacher, was immediately stood down upon the college becoming aware of the criminal charges against him, and dismissed a short time afterwards,” the statement said.
The college, according to its statement, said it had complied with mandatory reporting obligations and reported the allegations against Mellody to the Commission for Children and Young People.
“The college will proceed with an internal investigation when provided with clearance by police, but had already updated its child safety policies and practices,” the statement said.
Mellody was arrested on October 20 last year, when police raided his North Ringwood home, seizing a computer hard-drive, a laptop and his C300 Mercedes Benz.
Within two weeks of his arrest, a second student from the same school came forward, telling police Mellody sexually assaulted her.
Police alleged he persuaded the first complainant to sneak out of her home at night and regularly took her to the college campus where he had sex with her. On at least one occasion, the alleged victim was instructed by Mellody to wear her school uniform, according to court documents.
In a letter sent by St Andrews Christian College to parents on November 6, the school said it was “deeply shocked and appalled” by the allegations, and confirmed it had sacked Mellody.
The 37-year-old was granted bail on strict conditions in November last year that required him to live at his parent’s home in Blackburn and banned him from any contact with his infant daughter.
However, he was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and committing an indictable offence while on bail in August, after allegedly attempting to coerce the victim in the matter “to either withdraw or change her statement to benefit the court outcome”, according to court documents.
Mellody has been on remand since August, before pleading guilty to more than 50 sexual offences on October 22, when the prosecution indicated that 11 charges would be withdrawn, including four counts of rape.
A former youth pastor with the Salvation Army, Mellody will face a plea hearing in the County Court on March 3 next year.
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