A Central Coast school teacher charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl over the past two months was allegedly trying to flee the country when he was arrested at Sydney Airport on Sunday night.

Police allege that Patrick Starkey, 42, was intending to travel to South Africa via Perth before he was taken into custody and charged with seven counts of aggravated sexual intercourse and three counts of intentional sexual touching against a child, and grooming a child for unlawful sexual activity.

Child abuse squad detectives launched an investigation on Saturday after reports against Starkey were made to police.

Police executed a search warrant at a Kincumber unit on the Central Coast less than an hour before Starkey’s arrest, with a car and laptops seized at the residen

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