Justin James Crudeli: Former boxing coach convicted of working without valid Working With Children card

A former Geraldton boxing coach — who was last year acquitted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in his hot tub — is $8500 out of pocket after he was convicted of working with children without a valid Working With Children card. Justin James Crudeli, who is also a Great Northern Football League footballer and former football coach, appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on October 20 for sentencing on two charges of working with minors without a valid permit. The 38-year-old was found guilty of the offence following a two-day trial. He was fined $500 and ordered to pay $8000 costs to the Department of Communities. An investigation by the Department of Communities resulted in proceedings being commenced under the Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004. The court was told despite having previously held a Working with Children card, Crudeli continued to carry on child-related work without renewing his card, despite requests from his employer Geraldton PCYC to do so. During his trial, Crudeli argued that during COVID-19 he was not working at the PCYC and did not realise he had to renew his WWC card. Phil Payne, Department of Communities acting executive director regulation and quality, said the WWC check was a critical part of keeping children safe. “Anyone engaged in child-related work must apply for a WWC check and hold a current WWC card,” he said. “This outcome should serve as a warning to all individuals of their responsibilities to ensure they have a current WWC card. “The community has a right to expect that their children are safe when engaging with any person or organisation providing child-related work.” Last year, Crudeli was acquitted of two counts of sexual penetration without consent by a District Court jury after he fought allegations at trial that he sexually abused a 16-year-old girl in his home hot tub in 2020. It’s understood Crudeli met his accuser at Geraldton PCYC, where he used to run boxing classes. The teenage girl claims she was sexually assaulted by Crudeli while they were in his hot tub with her friend, also 16. After initially denying to police that sexual penetration had taken place, Crudeli admitted it did on the witness stand, but argued it was with consent. “It was just a stupid decision. I gave into temptation,” he told the jury. “It is wrong, I regret it but it was not illegal.”