A high school PE teacher who sexually assaulted two of his students at a Gippsland school in the 1980s has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison, with no parole.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.
William Gilfillan, more commonly known as Rob, was found guilty in December 2025 of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16 while he was a teacher at Traralgon High School.
The 69-year-old appeared at the Victorian County Court on Tuesday via video link from Barwon Prison for sentencing on five charges, including one charge of sexual penetration of a person under 16, and four charges of indecent assault of a person over 16 years.
William “Rob” Gilfillan sexually abused children while working at Traralgon High School. (Supplied)
Gilfillan was already serving a 48-year jail sentence in New South Wales over the sexual abuse of his daughter, Jess Denham.
He was convicted in 2018 for the sexual abuse and torture of his daughter over a 15-year period near Lismore, NSW.
He was found guilty by a District Court jury of 73 offences, including repeatedly raping Ms Denham from when she was five years old.
Ms Denham has provided her consent to the ABC to be named as a victim-survivor of sexual abuse.
Gilfillan will be 92 years old in 2049 when he becomes eligible for parole for the NSW offences.
‘Quite shocking’
The court heard Gilfillan was a physical education teacher at Traralgon High School between 1982 and 1983, when he was aged between 25 and 27.
The two victims of his offending were students at the school.
In evidence, one of his victims described the offending as “quite shocking”, leaving her “very traumatised” after Gilfillan used calipers to do skin pinch tests on her breasts and genitals.
Justice Amanda Chambers sentenced Gilfillan to seven-and-a-half years in prison with no parole, and clarified had the sentence handed down in NSW for previous offending not been so severe, she would have considered a degree of accumulation to be appropriate.
“It is nonetheless important to recognise and state that the individual sentences of imprisonment imposed on you today are vindication of the two victims whose accounts of your sexual abuse were believed, despite your denials,” Justice Chambers said.
“It is more likely than not that you will die in custody.“
He must also be registered as a sex offender under the Victorian Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004.
