Teacher charged over alleged sexual abuse of students at Sydney school
A Sydney teacher has been charged over allegations she sexually abused three boys at a school in the city’s east more than 40 years ago.
After receiving reports of sexual abuse by a teacher at a Maroubra school in the 1970s and 1980s, police established Strike Force Sportsground to investigate.
NSW Police arrest Sydney teacher Helga Lam on Friday morning. Credit:NSW Police
During their “extensive†investigation, police said they received information that three boys â€" then aged 13, 14 and 15 â€" were sexually assaulted by a female teacher at Maroubra Bay High School between 1977 and 1980.
Helga Lam, 67, was arrested at her home in St Ives, in Sydney’s north, just before 8am on Friday. She was taken to Hornsby police station and charged with 14 counts of indecent assault.
A spokeswoman for NSW Police confirmed she is currently employed as a teacher in Sydney.
Ms Lam is listed among the teaching staff for 2021 at Killara High School, on the upper north shore.
Helga Lam, 67, was arrested at a home in St Ives. Credit:NSW Police
She was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Waverley Local Court on October 6.
Detective Superintendent Tim Beattie from Eastern Beaches police said the investigation was continuing, and urged anyone with information to come forward.
“The allegation we have is, over a period of time over those three years, certainly for those three boys involved, there were a number of sexual assaults [that] occurred,†he said.
Maroubra Bay High School closed in 1990 and was later used to film five seasons of the TV soap Heartbreak High before the site was developed for residential units.
Police are in touch with “a number of people in the community†and are “keeping our mind open†about where the investigation might go, Superintendent Beattie said.
“We certainly encourage anybody who may have information about this conduct or this incident to come forward.
“School should be a place of safety for children and what I’ll do is urge anyone with any information about child sexual abuse to come and speak to police.â€
A spokeswoman for the NSW Department of Education said, “The safety and wellbeing of students is always our number one priority.†However, she would not comment further as the matter remains under investigation.
With Sarah McPhee
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