Gordonstoun prep school pupil age 13 ‘was raped in tent’
A WOMAN was raped at the age of 13 by a teaching assistant when she had to share his tent on a school camping trip, an abuse inquiry has heard.
The man, who was aged around 19 or 20, took a group of pupils from Aberlour House on an expedition in the mid-1980s.
Aberlour House was considered a preparatory school for Gordonstoun.
The woman, known by the pseudonym Sarah, said in her last year at Aberlour, in Banffshire, she went on a camping expedition in a group of ten to 15 pupils.
She told the inquiry that when they arrived it was discovered the group was one tent short.
As a result it was decided that some pupils would share a tent with the man leading the expedition and take it in turns to sleep in his tent.
The latest phase of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, being heard before Judge Lady Smith, is focusing on alleged abuse in Scottish boarding schools.
Andrew Brown, QC, counsel to the inquiry, said: ‘On the first night you and two other girls shared the tent with him and he began to do things. They left and he raped you.’ Sarah said: ‘Yes.’ The inquiry also heard that other children knew Sarah had been raped and said she was bullied because of what had happened.
Asked why she thought the expedition was found to be one tent short, she said: ‘I think he probably did it deliberately.’
Mr Brown asked: ‘One of the things he did was to bring condoms with him on a camping trip with children?’ She replied: ‘Yes.’ Sarah went on to Gordonstoun School for her secondary education, and the inquiry heard that at her leavers’ ball in 1992 a teacher tried to kiss her.
Aberlour House and Gordonstoun had links but were separate legal entities until they merged in 1999.
Gordonstoun School said: ‘Although Gordonstoun cannot answer formally for Aberlour House before 1999, we are providing as much information as we can to the inquiry and have already taken the opportunity at the inquiry of offering an apology to anyone who suffered abuse there.’ The inquiry in
Edinburgh also heard from a woman using the pseudonym Annie who attended Gordonstoun for her sixth form years between 1986 and 1988.
She said that one male member of staff kissed her on her cheek and forehead between five and ten times, which disturbed her.
Annie said: ‘It was definitely wrong and inappropriate, even around that time that would not be appropriate. I cannot tell you beyond reasonable doubt what his motive was. But I did not want to be kissed – chaste kisses, but I did not want to be kissed by a male staff member as I went about my daily life.’
The principal of Gordonstoun Lisa Kerr gave evidence to the inquiry in March, saying: ‘I’d like to offer a very sincere apology to anyone who has suffered abuse either at Gordonstoun or Aberlour House.’
The inquiry continues.