More allegations surface
More victims of alleged historical child sexual abuse at a Townsville Catholic primary school have come forward to tell of their experiences.
According to law firm Maurice Blackburn, which is investigating the abuse, a total of 14 former students have now come forward.
The abuse is alleged to have occurred at the hands of one teacher, who is now deceased, at the St John Fisher’s College, now known as Marian Catholic School, in Currajong over at least 16 years to 1994.
It means a further 11 victims have come forward since the publication last month of advertisements and a story in the Townsville Bulletin in which the firm asked people to call them.
Maurice Blackburn Special Counsel Jed Mcnamara said it was a big response.
“The difficulty is, it’s hard enough disclosing to someone (you know) what happened, let alone seeing something in a newspaper and ringing a complete stranger. That’s a big response I’d say. To my way of thinking it doesn’t mean there were only 11 others,” Mr Mcnamara said.
The firm is acting for at least two former students. Whether other victims would also bring a claim, Mr Mcnamara said he did not know.
Common themes emerged. The perpetrator would take advantage of a school policy that students had to have their shirts tucked in, he would also have boys undress in the classroom when swimming lessons were held and on other occasions he would sit with two or three boys when reading in a bean bag at the back of the classroom.
“Then there was further bad stuff that happened that there were no witnesses to because of the depravity of what went on,” Mr Mcnamara said.
Mr Mcnamara said the mother of one student confronted the teacher in the presence of a senior school official at the time about the way in which her son’s shirt was tucked in.
“You would like to think that the next day or week the (school) would call back, saying (we’ve) investigated, but there was nothing at all. The mother was very boisterous with the teacher. Fortunately (her son) was not touched again,” Mr Mcnamara said.
The firm has filed one civil compensation claim and is in the process of filing another.
Mr Mcnamara said it was about being heard and was not about money.
“The money is more so an acknowledgment. It’s vindication, you’ve hurt me, you’ve listened, this happened. I’m a person of truth. It’s being believed, being heard,” he said.
In a statement, the executive director of Townsville Catholic Education, Jacqui Francis, said they were committed to assisting authorities on all matters relating to student protection.
“Townsville Catholic Education takes the safety of our students, past and present, very seriously. Although we cannot comment on the particulars of these historical allegations, we are committed to assisting authorities on all matters relating to student protection,” Ms Francis said.
“Townsville Catholic Education provides historical records to ensure independent authorities can enact on their processes to investigate any allegations. We also provide individuals with records we hold pertaining to them, subject to the Privacy Act.”