A casual music teacher at an elite Sydney school charged with allegedly offering a 14-year-old girl money in exchange for sexually explicit material has been named.

A casual teacher at an elite Sydney private school has been charged with grooming after allegedly offering a 14-year-old girl money in exchange for sexually explicit material via social media.

Police arrested Benjamin David Collinge, 29, in Sydney’s northern suburbs on Thursday morning.

A school teacher has been charged with grooming a 14-year-old girl online. Picture : NSW Police
Officers had received reports that a 14-year-old girl had been communicating with a man online who had allegedly encouraged her to send sexually explicit material in exchange for money.

Mr Collinge, a casual music teacher at the prestigious Newington College, in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Stanmore, has been charged with using a carriage service to groom a person under the age of 16 for sex and to access child abuse material.

Following a brief appearance before Burwood Local Court on Thursday, his matter was adjourned to April 2.

Officers had received reports that a 14-year-old girl had been communicating with a man online who had allegedly encouraged her to send sexually explicit material in exchange for money. Picture: NSW Police

The 29-year-old was arrested on Thursday morning. Picture : NSW Police
The arrest was part of an ongoing police operation called Strike Force Trawler, which aims to crack down on online child exploitation.

Newington College headmaster Michael Parker told parents via a message to the school community that Mr Collinge had was no longer employed at the school.

“Police have informed us that no Newington students, or students at schools we have recently been associated with, have been identified as having been involved,” Mr Parker wrote to parents, per reports from The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We are deeply upset by these allegations and we will work closely with police on the protection of children.”