Former teacher spared jail after seeking stories about underage boys

Former Irymple teacher Harley James Caldwell spared jail after requesting stories about underage boys In short: A former secondary school teacher in Victoria's north-west has been spared jail after soliciting child abuse material. Harley James Caldwell, 32, pleaded guilty to requesting stories about under age boys from two men using encrypted online applications. What's next? The order will come into effect in December. A former teacher from a north-west Victorian secondary school has avoided jail after admitting to soliciting child abuse material. Readers are advised this article includes descriptions of a sexual nature. Harley James Caldwell, 32, used encrypted messaging applications TeleGuard and Telegram to request stories about underage boys from two men in January last year and this year. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to one charge of soliciting child abuse material and was today sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order. The former Irymple Secondary College teacher used the applications to go to an unidentified account called RandomDude and ask for stories about underage boys. The County Court heard that, although the conversations included sexual components, sexual interaction was rarely described and no images were shared. The court heard RandomDude told Caldwell, "I've got two [stories]", to which Caldwell replied: "Nice, go for it". The court heard, in one instance, RandomDude described a scenario in a pool change room involving the erect penises of boys younger than 15. The teenagers were described performing a sexual act on each other. Caldwell asked questions about the male characters, who RandomDude described as 14-to-15 years old. The court also heard that on June 14 and 30, 2025, Caldwell messaged another user named CrazedSpirit. The nature of their discussions was not shared in court, beyond CrazedSpirit being quoted as saying: "I've never really got into role play." Debate over seriousness of offending On Monday, Judge Michael Patrick Bourke asked about the seriousness of the offending, labelling it an "unusual form of child abuse". Prosecutor Holly Baxter said the offending did not fall at the lowest end of seriousness due to a variety of factors and that the court should consider that Caldwell had solicited material from two different people on two separate occasions. She told the court Caldwell had a sexual interest in the stories and the offending he committed usually resulted in a jail term. Defence lawyer Marko Habib said two separate expert assessments found Caldwell did not have a paedophilic attraction. The court heard the experts instead noted Caldwell had a desire to appease the people he was speaking to on the encrypted applications. Mr Habib said Caldwell now understood these were not victimless crimes, but suggested the offending fell somewhere close to the lowest end of the scale. Prison sentence considered Since his arrest and subsequent bail, the court heard Caldwell had developed an insight into his offending and had been engaging in consistent psychological treatment. The court was told the offending occurred in the context of a depressive episode, and that his predisposed conditions contributed to his actions. Judge Bourke said imprisonment would normally be appropriate but due to mitigating factors, including his early guilty plea, an 18-month community corrections order was suitable. Caldwell must complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, continue mental health assessments and treatment, and cooperate with corrections services. The court heard Caldwell now resides in South Australia, meaning Victorian corrections services will have to try to transfer the order to SA. If that cannot proceed, Caldwell may be required to return to Victoria to carry out the order, which will come into effect on December 10.