Former NSW Gymnastics Coach of the Year charged with sexual assault of teenage pupils

A once highly-regarded gymnastics coach has been charged by NSW Police with 25 offences including sexually touching four girls aged between nine and 17 under his tutelage.

Daniel Benson, named NSW Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 2001, is alleged to have a sexually assaulted the young gymnasts in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Benson, now aged 55 and living in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby Heights, was arrested at his home on 15th December 2021 and taken to Hornsby Police Station where he was charged with the 25 offences which included aggravated sexual assault, aggravated sexual intercourse with child under 16 and contact with persons with intent to obtain advantage.

The arrest and laying of charges follows the NSW Police Child Abuse Squad having started investigating the historical sexual abuse allegations against Benson in July, leading to Benson also being arrested in September.

In a statement, the NSW Police investigators advised “in October, detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad established Strike Force Willington to investigate reports a number of girls had been sexually abused by their coach in the late ’90s and early ’00s.

“Police will allege in court that the man sexually abused four girls - then aged between 14 and 18 - on numerous occasions between 1999 and 2004, while they were students under his care.”

It has also emerged that Benson had been refused a Working with Children Check back in 2016 and his status updated to 'barred' following an undisclosed incident.

More recently, he was reportedly helping out at the Nepean Gymnastics Academy in a 'hands off' role, performing maintenance checks on the equipment with no direct involvement with the young athletes.

However, in September Daily Mail Australia reported that several students had claimed he was coaching at the club, working specifically with young girls on the uneven bars.

Gymnastics NSW subsequently suspended the club's membership, releasing a statement to families that advised “there is zero tolerance to incidents of abuse of athletes”.

Benson has been involved in Australia's gymnastics community for more than two decades, both in NSW and Queensland.

Benson's brother Tony runs Sydney Gymnastics with his wife, one of Australia's leading clubs which often trains state and national gymnasts.

Tony Benson has also held positions on national and state committees within gymnastics associations. 

In September, Daniel Benson was granted strict conditional bail to live at in Hornsby Heights after posting a $40,000 surety. He was also required to report to Hornsby Police Station every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, was forbidden from entering any gymnasiums, was not to be in the company of any person under the age of 16 and to not contact any of the witnesses.  

As of 15th December he was refused bail and remanded in custody to appear in Manly Local Court next year.

Update 28th December 2021. Lexology, which delivers legal updates, analysis and insights has published an opinion on the case. Click here to view the opinion.

Images: Daniel Benson being arrested by NSW Police last week (top, credit: NSW Police), Benson performing a coaching role (middle, credit: Nepean Gymnastics Academy/Facebook) and a statement sent to athletes by Gymnastics NSW after Benson's arrest in September (below).