Vasilious Kafataris: Kisses with pupil were 'cultural', sex-offender teacher tells Sydney court

Two kisses with a female high school student were not sexual but “cultural” during a time of grieving, a veteran school teacher has said during a bid to avoid jail.

Vasilious Kafataris, 57, had been working as a teacher for 25 years when he twice indecently touched a 17-year-old in 2021.

The Bankstown man formed a bond with the girl, kissing her once on the lips at a western Sydney train station and again outside his apartment after someone he knew died from suicide.

“There was nothing like a romantic connection,” he said during a sentence hearing at Parramatta District Court on Friday.

Under questioning by crown prosecutor Georgina Namat, he said kissing his student hello and goodbye was “cultural” and he did not know it was illegal.

“There was nothing in my mind sexual about it in any way,” Kafataris said.

The ex-teacher pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually touching a young person under special care in May 2024.

In recent weeks, the former English teacher was found guilty of grooming another student - aged 15 - for sex.

As part of the grooming, the 57-year-old slapped his genitals on a countertop while asking the victim over the phone to touch herself.

A victim impact statement by the teen groomed by Kafataris described the horrific psychological effects of her former teacher’s conduct.

“He stole my childhood, my safety and years of my life I’ll never get back,” the statement, read by a victim support worker, said.

“He walked away without consequences for years while I was left carrying damage.”

Diagnosed with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, the victim said she carried shame and guilt for actions that weren’t her own.

“This pain won’t disappear just because a guilty verdict was reached,” she wrote.

“The truth is I will carry this with me for the rest of my life.”

Kafataris watched silently without showing emotion as the statement was read out.

He described the six months he had spent in custody until being bailed in October as the “worst six months” of his life.

“I spent the whole time being petrified about being shanked because of the nature of my charges,” Kafataris told the court.

He lost his job as a teacher in 2021 and now works at a friend’s plumbing business.

The 57-year-old said he had been seeing a psychologist while on bail and had new insight into his conduct, especially its potential for harm.

The prosecution asked Judge Phillip Mahony to jail Kafataris.

Ms Namat said parents and the community trusted teachers to guide and mentor their students.

“A message needs to be sent to those who commit such offences that their actions will not be tolerated and can expect to receive significant punishment,” she said.

Defence barrister Leslie Nicholls agreed his client’s conduct was “reprehensible”.

But when compared to other types of sexual touching and grooming that came before the court, it was at the lower end of objective seriousness, Mr Nicholls said.

The offending did not happen through pressure or coercion from Kafataris but instead occurred “spontaneously” with the teens being willing parties, he said.

Noting the time his client had already spent in custody, the former teacher’s lawyer argued he be sentenced to a community corrections order.

Kafataris will remain on bail until he learns his fate on October 9.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028