Court hears of “predatory” conduct

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A former Drouin High School metalwork teacher has been handed a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to seven counts of indecent assault against a former student.

John McLachlan, 81, of Northcote (formerly of Drouin) was employed as a teacher at the secondary school from 1963 to 1992.

On Thursday, Melbourne County Court judge Anne Hassan handed down a suspended sentence of two years and eight months to Mr McLachlan, who appeared remotely, and ordered he be placed on the sex offenders registry for life.

“Your offending was a gross breach of trust, your duty was to nurture and educate your students and not to exploit them and corrupt them,” she said.

“Your offending is very serious, and your morale culpability is high.”

Dressed in a blue striped button-down shirt and sporting a grey moustache and goatee, Mr McLachlan, whose mobility is limited, did not stand for sentencing, or react as he listened to Judge Hassan detail his “predatory” conduct, which occurred between 1978 and 1982.

The court heard the victim was aged between 11 and 14 years old during the assaults while he was a student at Drouin High School.

The prosecution’s summary stated Mr McLachlan “took a shine” to the 11-year-old from the beginning of metalwork classes in 1978 and invited him to spend lunchtimes with him.

Prosecutors said Mr McLachlan’s conduct towards the student changed in March 1978 after the victim confided in him, via a note, that he was experiencing confusion about his sexuality.

“Instead of talking to (the victim) and offering support, this cry for help seems to have triggered your offending behaviour,” Judge Hassan said.

About one week after receiving the note, Mr McLachlan asked the victim to attend the school’s photographic dark room with him to develop some photographs. Prosecutors said the teacher sexually assaulted his students in the darkroom regularly until 1981.

The court heard Mr McLachlan told the victim about a peephole in the door of the darkroom and told him to keep watch through the hole while he was being sexually assaulted.

In 1979, when the victim was 13 years old, Mr McLachlan invited him to attend his house in Drouin where a pornographic film was played and the victim was again assaulted.

The offending continued at Mr McLachlan’s home until 1981 when the victim refused to remove his clothing and left the property.

Throughout 1982 the victim avoided Mr McLachlan and refused to have further meetings or interactions with him.

The court heard Mr McLachlan wrote letters to the victim which included statements like “I miss you”, “I care about you” and “When are you coming to see me again”.

In 1993 the victim presented the letters to police in Prahan and Mr McLachlan was interviewed. However, police took no further action.

During sentencing, Judge Hassan said there was no information about why Mr McLachlan was not prosecuted at that time.

In 1993 the victim took successful civil action against Mr McLachlan and received a sum of money as compensation.

“This may have been the reason criminal charges did not proceed, but this remains speculation only,” Judge Hassan said.

The victim pursued the matter in 2019, providing a statement to Cairns police in July 2019.

Mr McLachlan was arrested and interviewed on November 12, 2020. He provided a “no comment” record of interview.

In a statement to the court, the victim - now 56 - outlined the significant and ongoing negative impacts he experienced as a result of Mr McLachlan’s offending.

He said he had experienced depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, which impacted his career and drove him to move away.

At 13, he attempted suicide for the first time, and he tried again six more times.

The victim described himself as a “shy, innocent” 11-year-old boy who felt trapped by Mr McLachlan, fearing he would tell people about his sexuality.

He said he started high school with dreams of becoming a police officer or a solicitor but was instead “preyed upon” by a teacher, impacting his ability to complete years 12 and hold down work as an adult.

“I can still sense your presence behind me,” he said.

Throughout his life, the victim said he experienced nightmares about Mr McLachlan and regularly sought psychological help.

The victim called Mr McLachlan a “vile, disgusting man”.

“You chose to steal a young child’s future,” he said.

Mr McLachlan took leave from Drouin High School before ceasing employment there in 1992. He never returned to the workforce.

On Thursday, Judge Hassan said her decision to suspend the sentence was due to several factors including Mr McLachlan’s plea of guilty at the “earliest opportunity”, his physical and psychological ill-health, his withdrawal from society, the delay in proceedings due to the

BLUE pandemic and his potential to re-offend being deemed “most unlikely”.

Judge Hassan acknowledged the impact of Mr McLachlan’s offending on the victim.

She said she had received no expressions of “real or insightful remorse” from Mr McLachlan, who she stated had led an “empty and unfulfilling life” since he ceased employment.