Convicted:
2012, 
Positions: Youth leader, - During crime: Youth leader,
- Mission:
no
- Alleged:
1 victim,
Criminal case(s): Admitted guilt, Convicted, Plea deal, Pleaded guilty, Unknown result, - Alleged church actions: Unknown church action,
updated Aug 11, 2026 - request update | add info
Crime: 
Crime city:
Crime state:
Crime country:
Positions: 
Alleged:
Criminal case(s): 
Daphney Louise Matthews was a history and legal studies teacher at Huntingtower School in Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia.
In February 2012, Daphney Matthews appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges involving one female student. Contemporary reporting said she initially faced 16 charges: six counts of rape, six counts of sexual penetration of a 16- or 17-year-old under her care, supervision or authority, and one count each of assault, committing an indecent act with a child under 16, procuring a child under 16 for sexual penetration with herself, and persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16.
In August 2012, Matthews pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court to five charges involving sexual abuse of the student. ABC reported that the charges included indecent acts and sexual assault and that the offenses to which she pleaded guilty occurred over approximately six months in 2009, when the student was under 16.
The Herald Sun reported that Matthews had sexually assaulted the student and kissed and touched her on separate occasions, and that a prosecutor told the court another 13 charges had been struck out.
Matthews was released on bail pending a County Court plea hearing scheduled for November 2012.
If you have any information about Matthews’s LDS church membership history, please contact us.
Have any info on this case? Contact FLOODLIT.
Sources
- Teacher admits sexually abusing student,
- Female teacher admits to multiple student sex attacks,
- Teacher’s rape charge,
- Female teacher on same-sex rape counts,
-
1. Teacher admits sexually abusing student
A Melbourne teacher has admitted sexually abusing a student three years ago.
Daphney Matthews, 38, pleaded guilty to five charges, including indecent acts and sexual assault.
Matthews was working at the Huntingtower school in Mount Waverley at the time of the offences, which happened in Daylesford and Knoxfield over six months in 2009.
The girl was under the age of 16.
Matthews will face the Victorian County Court in November.
-
2. Female teacher admits to multiple student sex attacks
Female teacher admits to multiple student sex attacks
Paul Anderson
Herald Sun
August 30, 2012 2:03PMA FEMALE teacher has pleaded guilty to the repeated sexual assault of a young female student.
Daphney Louise Matthews, now aged 39, sexually assaulted the student, aged under 16, and kissed and touched her on separate occasions in 2009.
Matthews stood in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this morning and pleaded guilty to five charges after her defence counsel, Phillip Priest, QC, told the magistrate that the matter had been resolved.
The case was originally listed as a committal hearing.
Another 13 charges had been struck out, prosecutor Julian Ayers told the court.
The offences to which Matthews pleaded guilty occurred in Melbourne’s outer east and in country Victoria.
Matthews was a teacher at a school in Mount Waverley at the time.
She was released on unopposed bail and will appear in the County Court for a plea hearing in November.
-
3. Teacher’s rape charge
Teacher’s rape charge
February 25, 2012
A Melbourne teacher has been charged with sexual abuse of a female student. Police allege Daphney Louise Matthews, 38, raped the girl between January 1, 2008, and November 25, 2011.
Matthews, a former teacher at Huntingtower School in Mount Waverley, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday for a hearing and will reappear in April. She is charged with six counts of rape, six counts of sexual penetration of a 16 or 17-year-old under her supervision and one count each of assault, committing an indecent act with a child under 16, procuring a child under 16 for sexual penetration with herself, and persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16.
-
4. Female teacher on same-sex rape counts
A Melbourne teacher is accused of sexually abusing a student and is facing several charges including rape.
Daphney Louise Matthews, 38, appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning for a filing hearing.
The former history and legal studies teacher at Huntingtower School faces 16 charges made up of six counts of rape; six counts of sexual penetration of a 16 or 17-year-old under her care, supervision or authority; and one count each of assault, committing an indecent act with a child under 16, procuring a child under 16 for sexual penetration with herself, and persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16.
The offences relate to one complainant, who is a female.
Huntingtower is a co-educational Christian day and boarding school in Mount Waverley.
Matthews taught at the school for three years until her employment ended this year.
The offences are alleged to have occurred between January 1, 2008 and November 25 last year.
In court documents, police allege the offences occurred at Daylesford and Knoxfield.
The matter was adjourned for committal mention in April.
Documents
Have docs or info? Add information
Criminal case documents
Floodlit does not have a copy of a related probable cause affidavit. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for one.Civil case documents
Floodlit does not have a copy of a related civil complaint. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for one.Other documents
Floodlit does not have a copy of any other related documents. Please check back soon or contact us to request that we look for some.
Add information
If someone you know was harmed by the person listed on this page, or if you would like us to add or correct any information, please fill out the form below. We will keep you anonymous. You can also contact us directly.
Other Mormon sex abuse cases
-
- Steven Murdock (1963 – ) was a Mormon stake high council member and former LDS bishop in Holladay, Salt Lake County, Utah; allegedly sexually harassed multiple women in his ward while he was their bishop (he was bishop from 2013 to 2017); in 2019, was caught taking photos of a young woman in a dressing room in Tennessee; pleaded guilty in November 2019; sentenced in 2019 to one year probation, 48 hours community service
- View report »
-
-
- Joseph Neipp was a former LDS bishop in San Jose, California; in 2021, pleaded no contest to four molestation counts and was given an 18-year prison sentence, with credit for the three years he spent in county jail prior to his sentencing; father of convicted Mormon child sexual abuser Samuel Neipp
- View report »
-
-
- Alberto Reyes was a Mormon bishop in Argentina who sexually abused a child; allegedly sexually abused the victim for at least nine years; convicted in 2004
- View report »
-
