Parents face long wait
THE investigation into the handling of an alleged child sexual offence at a Townsville primary school has been completed but the findings will not be released until the school has a chance to defend itself.
On October 19, a teacher’s aide allegedly showed a naked picture of himself to three Year 4 boys. Parents of alleged victims could have to wait up to three more weeks to get the answers they seek surrounding the school’s reporting of the alleged incident and how the accused teacher’s aide was employed for five months without a Blue Card.
The teacher’s aide has been charged with three counts of exposing a child under 16 to an indecent image. Parents say they feel let down because they had been led to believe they would get answers on Friday when the investigation report was presented to the DirectorGeneral of the Department of Education, Dr Jim Watterson.
“As parents we should have a right to know,” a mother said.
The Bulletin understands the investigation, undertaken by the Education Department’s ethical standards committee, focused on the actions of the principal and other staff in the wake of the allegations.
The Bulletin understands the school did not report the incident to police until 24 hours after the children reported the alleged incident to a teacher.
Parents claim the principal contacted them the afternoon of the incident but did not explain what had happened.
When they questioned the principal the following day, after their sons had told them what allegedly happened, they say the principal told them not to go to the police.
They went to their local police station anyway and the accused was arrested.
A Department of Education spokesman said he was unable to comment on the specific investigation findings at this point. The school has two weeks to view the findings and give its side of the story.
Parents say more than 40 people will protest tomorrow demanding the findings of the report be released to the families of alleged victims.