Married teacher’s affair with senior student discovered after police found the pair in secluded carpark

A MARRIED teacher’s affair with a senior student was only discovered after police stumbled upon the pair during a tryst in a secluded car park near the airport.

Wesley Ellis, of North Melbourne, this morning pleaded guilty to sexually penetrating a child under his care at the Victorian County Court.

Ellis, 37, was well aware he faced jail over the illicit relationship but claims he fell in love with the girl amid difficulties in his own marriage.

The pair developed an illegal relationship described by defence barrister Ian Hill QC as “physical intimacy of a sexual nature”.

The abuse began on school property and got progressively worse until Ellis would pick up the girl in his BMW, allow her to change out of her uniform before taking her to top-end restaurants and the casino and sexually abusing her in hotels including the Grand Hyatt and the Sofitel.

Ellis was only charged after AFP stumbled across the pair just after they finished having sex at a carpark near the airport.

“Sorry it had to end like this,” the girl said in an email to Ellis soon after.

Both Ellis and the girl initially lied about their relationship and about the girl’s age, but he made full admissions once the matter was referred to Victoria Police.

“I used her as escape for all of the problems in my life,” Ellis said after he was charged.

The victim declined to give a victim impact statement to authorities, but family members now worry about her emotional stability.

Mr Hill said Ellis had a lonely childhood whose offending was an aberration driven by depression and despondency over his marriage and financial difficulties.

“This is a good man who has done good work who can be rehabilitated and become a good member of society,” Mr Hill said.

Mr Hill urged Chief Judge Peter Kidd to consider that Ellis’s autistic son was heavily dependent on him before sentencing him.

Ellis’ teaching accreditation will be revoked and he is now working at his father’s architect firm, which the court heard had recently established an RMIT scholarship scheme.

He has also reconciled with his wife.

Chief Judge Kidd will sentence Ellis at later date.