Shining light on cruelties
ABRAZEN Hobart paedophile who hid in plain sight behind his job as a science teacher will today discover how much longer he’ll remain behind bars.
Darrel George Harington has groomed and molested pre-teen and teenage boys since the 1970s, preying on children who didn’t fit in, were “never accepted for what they were”.
Now, the Mercury has revealed that his employer of 30 years – Tasmania’s department of education – received numerous complaints saying Harington was a risk to children.
Harington was acquitted from two criminal cases but the accusations continued.
A damning paper trail of documents obtained under Right to Information laws shows evidence of repeated accusations from parents, colleagues, students and members of the public that date back decades.
The education department didn’t discipline or investigate Harington. Instead it simply moved him job-to-job.
The paedophile, already incarcerated for historical sex offending, will today return to Tasmania’s Supreme Court to learn his fate after a jury found him guilty last month of even more historical child sex charges.
For the victims, knowing their abuser is behind bars and being punished for his sickening offences is
AND WE (MUST) ENSURE THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF ABUSERS ... ARE COMPENSATED WITHOUT HAVING TO RELIVE THE HORROR THROUGH THE COURTS.
cold comfort when they see the string of complaints that fell on deaf ears or weren’t believed by the authorities that should have been protecting these young boys.
We never take lightly the decision to publish an article about child sexual abuse on the front page.
But sometimes it’s our job to shine a light into very dark places in the hope that somehow it makes a difference. It’s the least we can do for the children our society has failed.
Possibly the worst part of this story is that we’ve heard it before. That more wasn’t done to save these boys from this predator sounds all-too-familiar to the Catholic Church’s historical approach to protecting children.
We must do better.
And we absolutely must do better to ensure that those who have suffered at the hands of abusers – such as the former ward-of-the-state who suffered horrific trauma at the hands of education department employees in the 1970s – are compensated without having to relive the horror through the courts.
As reported in the Mercury last month, the abuse survivor has faced painful delays to settle his claim. Now he has made the decision to go to court because state government lawyers were still unable to schedule a meeting date.
As if victims haven’t fought long enough and hard enough, they still face having to fight to settle their cases.
No amount can make up for what these people have been through as children, but fast-tracking the process and ensuring the outcome is as positive and painless as possible would at least be a small step in the right direction.
Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Jenna Cairney, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000