A man who lied about having a wedding celebrant’s license has left a cruel trail of destruction after conning couples – some of whom were close friends – into paying him $1,000, and ruining their special day with ’emotional distress’ and ’embarrassment’.
William ‘Will’ Cheesman, 31, pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday to charges including solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person
The court heard that he tricked and conducted bogus weddings for five couples who paid between $700 and $1,000 for him to marry them, unaware that he had no legal right to do so.
Cheesman, who also pleaded guilty to impersonation of a public official, carried out the fake weddings from February to July 2023
The court heard that he even helped the deceived couples plan their big day and write their vows.
The scam began to unravel when Cheesman gave the couples excuses for why he had not yet given them their official marriage documents.
The court heard that he eventually admitted to victims that he had ‘simply been too embarrassed to admit he had been deregistered as a celebrant’, the Herald Sun reported.
He also said he had ‘forgotten to pay his celebrant registration fee’, but neither excuse was true – Cheesman had never been a marriage celebrant, the court heard.
When Australian Federal Police officers arrested Cheesman on February 19, he told them he knew what he did was wrong but did not know it was a ‘criminal offence’.
The court heard that Cheesman told officers that he understood the couples would not be legally married from his service, but had not considered the legal and financial implications.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, a woman said she and her partner were ‘angered’ and ‘disappointed’ by what Cheesman did to them.
‘He caused emotional distress between us as a couple, our families and friends … it was extremely embarrassing,’ she said.
The woman said their wedding day was ‘forever tainted’ by what turned out to be a bogus marriage ceremony.
She added that her relationship with her partner became strained as a result of not knowing if they were married, causing fights between them.
The woman said their entire wedding day was a waste of money, ‘something that cost over $30,000 was ruined as a result of William’s services being invalid’.
The couple redid their vows after they found out they had not been legally married by Cheesman.
‘Not only was I betrayed by a celebrant, I was betrayed by a friend, William being in our photos is a constant reminder of what (he) did to us and it’s something that can never be replaced,’ the woman told the court.
Representing himself in court, Cheesman said that he had apologised to and repaid his victims.
‘I feel terrible that I’ve been dishonest to my friends,’ he told the court.
He added that he no longer wishes to work as a marriage celebrant.
The prosecution submission stated that what Cheesman did was ‘a breach of trust … committed for personal gain’ and that it was planned over several months.
The submission added that Cheesman had multiple opportunities to withdraw from the offending, which were ‘persistent in nature’ and had a ‘degree of sophistication’.
Magistrate Malcolm Thomas took ‘into account the impact on the victims, the potential legal consequences in relation to the children if the matter hadn’t come to light and the financial consequences of their status of being not properly married’.
Cheesman was convicted and placed on a six-month community correction order.