A FORMER secondary school teacher will be sentenced next week for committing sex acts against students as young as 12.
Dennis Stewart, 50, appeared in the dock at the County Court in Melbourne this morning were he faced four counts of committing an indecent act with a child under 16.
Stewart pleaded guilty to these charges at a previous court appearance.
The court heard Stewart invited a number of boys to his home over a two year period, asking some of them about the size of their genitals and whether they were gay.
He grabbed two of the boys' genitals on separate occasions at his home and in his office at school.
On each occasion the boys rebuffed his advances.
Victim impact statements from the boys indicate they felt betrayed and one said he was now "wary of adult males".
Crown prosecutor Diana Piekusis told the court Stewart had arranged a bedroom for one of the children at his home, after buying him a phone, Xbox and depositing regular amounts into the boy's bank account.
The court also heard Stewart set up a fake Facebook account for "research" purposes.
Defence counsel Ian Hayden said his client had been addressing psychological issues since 2009.
He said the offences committed between 2010 and 2011 were on the "lower end" of the sexual offence scale.
"Eight boys had stayed a night in his home...he did not think it was inappropriate," Mr Hayden said.
Judge Richard Maidment said the offending was a severe breach of trust.
"It's serious offending for what might have happened... this could have got a lot worse."
The prosecution submitted a prison sentence of up to 3.5 years would be appropriate.
The defence argued for a community corrections order, due to ongoing mental health concerns.
Stewart was remanded in custody until his sentencing on Monday February 11.