The Sri Lankan director of a Melbourne tutoring academy has been accused of 17 sexual offences relating to children who were in his care.
Madira Ginnige, 56, is facing charges of sexual assault, intentionally sexually touching children, committing indecent acts with children under his care or supervision and attempting to commission a sexual offence with a child under 16, the Herald Sun reported.
The AIMS High Academy director and maths tutor is alleged to have committed the offences between 2015 and July 2024 in Mount Waverley, Narre Warren and Berwick.
In July Ginnige was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 at his academy’s Mount Waverley centre, but 15 additional sex offences were added following an investigation by the Box Hill Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team.
Eight offences allegedly took place in Mount Waverly, including intentionally sexually touching children and committing indecent acts with children under his care or supervision.
Another eight offences are alleged to have taken place in Narre Warren, where he allegedly raped a female on July 31, 2017, according to police charge sheets. He allegedly intentionally sexually touched a female without her consent in Berwick on the same day.
A prosecutor told Melbourne Magistrates Court last week the charges related to “quite a number” of victims, but Ginnige’s lawyer told the court his client denies the offending related to the original complainant.
Ginnige has his bail extended and will next appear in court on December 6.
AIMS High Academy’s now-removed website previously described Ginnige as a passionate tutor with 15 years of experience teaching high school maths including VCE Mathematical Methods and VCE Specialist Maths.
“I am a teacher who supports my students every step of the way, whether it be spending extra time in the classroom solidifying concepts or integrating maths into real and engaging applications,” Ginnige wrote.
“At the centre of who I am is an enigmatic friend who is always at hand to help, providing one one-on-one help as well as scheduling intensive workshops for my students.”
