Seedy texts singing coach sent his student after he groped her

One of Australia’s top singing coaches attempted to gaslight a young female student he had sexually abused, seedy new texts reveal. 

Celebrity singing coach David Jaanz, 62, pleaded guilty in  Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in April to sexual offences related to an incident which took place in 2023.

Described as the ‘Master Coach’, Jaanz has mentored celebrities and winners of singing contests The Voice, Australia’s Got Talent, X Factor and Australian idol. 

Jaanz, who has mentored stars including Delta Goodrem and Matt Corby, sexually assaulted a female student linked to his now-closed music academy in Oakleigh, south-east Melbourne. 

He launched his attack under the guise of teaching her a ‘relaxation’ technique designed to help her with performance anxiety.

But texts between the teacher and his victim have laid bare the horror of his actions.

‘You unbuttoned my pants and rubbed my legs far too close to my private areas,’ the woman wrote, according to messages she shared with the Herald Sun. 

‘And you touched my chest and ignored me when I flinched clearly very uncomfortable.

‘I have been frozen all week and pretended it didn’t happen but it did.’

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At one stage, Jaanz reportedly ordered her to lie on the ground, telling her the ‘exercise’ was necessary to ‘break down her boundaries’ to improve her performance.

Jaanz only stopped when he learnt the student was on her period.

When confronted with his actions over text message, Jaanz attempted to gaslight her.

‘Done in innocence would never have hurt you or gone any further. Never. You know that. Never,’ he wrote.

He said his ‘heart is broken’ and complained that he felt like he had lost someone he ‘love(d) dearly’.

He claimed he had learnt the ‘relaxation’ technique at the National Theatre and it was about ‘trust and pushing boundaries’.

‘I would have never have hurt your or broken your test,’ he responded.

‘Sorry you took it wrong and I am sorry I upset you.’

The woman, who had been coached by Jaanz from a young age, told the paper she viewed him as a father figure and trusted him.

But she believes she was groomed by him for his own sickening ends.

‘He knew how ambitious I was and set things up so that he was the key to our success in the music industry,’ she told the paper.

‘He was so powerful. All his students consistently win the TV shows (The Voice, Australian Idol) and are sent to the US – that’s where all Australian singers want to go.

‘He used that power. That day, he knew what he wanted to do and thought he’d manipulated me enough that he could do it.’

The Jaanz International Singing Academy, which coaches hundreds of aspiring singers, had studios in Sydney, Brisbane and seven in Melbourne including Box Hill, Camberwell, Croydon, Keysborough, Oakleigh, Narre Warren and Mornington. 

But the singing school closed abruptly last month in the wake of his conviction, leaving hundreds of students and several teachers in the lurch.  

Jaanz received a two-year good behaviour bond and was ordered to pay $5,000 to the court fund – a sentence his victim described as a ‘slap on the wrist’.