School abuse: three sacked

Tag: australia

A PRIMARY school principal and two senior Catholic Education officials have been sacked after they failed to report to police complaints of child abuse against a teacher, who allegedly went on to rape 12 young girls.

Toowoomba Bishop William Morris yesterday admitted the school and church officials had failed to protect children in their care, despite suspicions the teacher, who is now facing 46 charges, was sexually abusing young girls at the school.

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The school's principal, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became the first person in Australia to be charged under laws mandating the reporting to police of any suspicions of sexual abuse by a school staff member.

An investigation into the school's handling of the case was launched this year after a series of reports in The Australian exposed the initial complaints of abuse and inaction by the school.

Last week, a Toowoomba magistrate acquitted the principal -- because he reported the complaints to his superiors -- but found that the school or its governing body, Catholic Education, had broken laws in their failure to go to police.

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A student and her father complained of abuse by the teacher in September 2007, but the officials kept it secret despite other complaints, including from fellow staff members.

The teacher allegedly went on to rape and molest 12 other students, aged nine and 10, before he was arrested in November last year after another student went to police with abuse allegations.

Bishop Morris said yesterday that he was unaware of the previous complaints against the teacher until the newspaper articles.

He said he had been assured there had been no complaints and was "stunned" to learn later that the principal had suspected the teacher was abusing children and not reported it to police.

"It remains my view that the staff involved made serious and unacceptable errors of judgment," he said.

"They failed to respond appropriately to the information received -- from documenting the concerns to actioning and responding to them.

"They had an obligation to do everything necessary to ensure that the protection of children in their care remained paramount. They failed in that duty."

Prosecutors alleged during the principal's court hearing that he and two Catholic Education officials had "watered down" the allegations, before confronting the teacher, who denied the abuse.

Bishop Morris said the principal never told the officials that he had actually suspected sexual abuse, which he later admitted in court.

A parent of one of the victims last night said she was "ecstatic" with the sackings.

"These people should have protected my child at the first hint of abuse and they didn't," she said.

"Finally the church has done something right."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/...5809229966