Tucked away in Sydney’s leafy Wahroonga, Knox Grammar is one of Australia’s most prestigious schools – home to rugby stars, old money and generations of tradition.
It’s the kind of place where blazers are pressed, surnames carry weight and relationships are formed that can last a lifetime.
Notable alumni include actor Hugh Jackman, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and author Peter FitzSimons, plus a galaxy of stars from sports, politics and business.
But behind the manicured lawns and eye-watering fees – $42,000 per year for Year 12 day students – lies a legacy of controversy.
In the latest blow, last week a court suppression order was lifted to reveal that Knox alumnus David William James, 26, is accused of producing child abuse material linked to his employment in after-school care centres across Sydney.
According to his Year 12 yearbook, Mr James had been active in Knox’s co-curricular life. He served in the cadets, sang in various choirs and played in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
James was also part of the old boys’ bagpipe band in the years after he graduated in 2017.
In recent decades, the private school has been rocked by scandal after scandal.
David William James (pictured), 26, attended Knox Grammar in Wahroonga until 2017
In recent decades, the $40,000-a-year boys’ school has been rocked by scandal after scandal
In August 2022, controversy erupted when 150 students were exposed for participating in a private chat group known as ‘Gang Gang’ where they shared racist, antisemitic, misogynistic and homophobic content, including jokes about abortion and paedophilia, and doctored images of sexual violence.
Alarmingly, staff are alleged to have known about the group for weeks before taking action.
The group had operated for two years before it was reported in July 2022, and was finally disbanded the following month.
Users in the chatroom, hosted by the messaging service Discord, sent the vile messages using aliases like ‘n*****removalservice’ and ‘Fa**othater3000’.
‘I hate fems I hate gays, jews, people who don’t play fortnite, furries, n*****s, I love titties, feet abortion, rape, drugs,’ one of the disturbing messages read.
Other messages included:
- ‘Hitler is always stay in my heart. Heil Hitler’.
- ‘Silly “pro choices” think women’s rights matter… I only hate children and wish for them to die, take them out at the source.’
- ‘I’m a maniacal potential pedophile who rapes babies for a living.’
Shocking videos of young men appearing to be brutally raped or assaulted were also shared in the group chat.
A group-chat scandal led radio host Kyle Sandilands to announce he would not be sending his then-newborn son Otto to the exclusive Sydney boys’ college
Messages in the group chat were sexist and racist (pictured: a mock-up of the Discord group)
In a letter sent to parents, Knox Headmaster Scott James said the students involved had posted ‘inappropriate messages and engaged in offensive commentary in private chat rooms’
One student in the chat said ‘gang gang lore’ would prevent members from snitching, with another assuring that teachers didn’t have the authority to ‘search your device for non-school-related affairs’.
Knox Grammar initially responded by suspending several students for their participation in the group and launched an internal investigation.
A spokesperson for the school subsequently told Daily Mail the boys had been expelled and were ‘trying to settle in at other schools’.
The scandal led radio presenter Kyle Sandilands to announce he would not be sending his then-newborn son Otto to the exclusive Sydney boys’ college.
‘I cancelled his application,’ he revealed on air. ‘I thought, “He ain’t going there.”‘
Last year, former Knox student and teacher William Roberto Gulson, 27, was charged with one count of procuring or grooming a child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity.
Former student and teacher William Gulson (pictured) was charged with one count of procuring or grooming a child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity. He was granted bail on strict conditions and has pleaded not guilty
He faced Parramatta Local Court via videolink, wearing a jacket bearing the Knox logo and handcuffs.
The court heard Gulson told the complainant: ‘Sorry dude, I feel super conflicted, do you find it hot that you are as old as some of my students?’
Gulson knew the teen’s age at the time.
Gulson held a number of roles at Knox, including as a drama and English teacher and a Year 7 mentor.
In 2023, he received a ‘Living Our Values’ award from the School Council.
He was granted bail on strict conditions, including no contact with anyone under 18 and a ban on entering or loitering near Knox Grammar.
Gulson has pleaded not guilty and will fight the allegations against him at a three-day hearing in September.
In unrelated matters, the school was among several elite institutions scrutinised by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, with public hearings in March 2015 focusing on abuse from the 1970s to the 2000s.
The inquiry revealed multiple teachers at Knox had abused students over decades, while senior staff consistently failed to alert police or take meaningful action.
Former headmaster Ian Paterson admitted withholding information from authorities – a revelation that sparked public outrage and formal apologies from the school.
The scandal devastated Knox Grammar’s reputation and became a landmark case in Australia’s reckoning with historical institutional abuse.
Nevertheless, for many among Sydney’s elite, a Knox education remains the golden ticket – to rugby glory, elite universities, and corporate boardrooms.
