Kurt David Charlton, a former teacher from Western Australia, has been sentenced to over six years in prison for sexually abusing minors while he was babysitting them. The 29-year-old, who held a valid police clearance and a Working with Children (WWC) card at the time of his offenses, pleaded guilty to 27 charges involving nine victims, all under the age of 13.
Charlton will be eligible for parole after serving four and a half years of his sentence. The court proceedings revealed that he committed these acts in 2024 and 2025, primarily in the suburban homes of the victims in Perth.
During the sentencing, Judge Martin Flynn expressed the profound sense of betrayal felt by the parents of the children involved. He referenced a victim impact statement from a father, who indicated that the abuse would likely have lasting effects on his daughter.
Charlton’s offenses included indecent dealings with minors and the unlawful recording of children. The court was informed that he took inappropriate photographs of his victims and manipulated the body of an 18-month-old girl to capture images deemed “confronting” by the judge. Additionally, he possessed numerous photos that focused on the groin areas of both naked and clothed children, some taken while they were using the toilet.
Charlton had set up his phone to record interactions with children in a pool and captured footage of them in a bathroom. He also took pictures of two children in a public restroom and a clothed girl at a school, again focusing on inappropriate areas.
The court was told that Charlton had leveraged his qualifications and valid clearances when seeking babysitting positions, advertising his services online and expressing a desire to engage with children who were awake. His defense lawyer, Max Crispe, acknowledged that while Charlton had previously managed to control his sexual impulses, they ultimately became unmanageable. Crispe further asserted that there was “no excuse” for Charlton’s serious offenses.
Charlton, who has type 1 diabetes, became a father shortly before he was taken into custody in 2025. The court sentenced him to varying terms for each offense, ranging from 18 months to two and a half years, resulting in a cumulative sentence of six and a half years, taking into account his early guilty pleas.
Following the initial concerns raised by WA Police last year, the Education Department terminated Charlton’s employment and revoked his teaching registration.
