Bishops College sex case closed

The SA Council for Educators (Sace) has closed its fi le in its probe against former Bishops Diocesan College teacher Fiona Viotti who was found, by the school, to have engaged in sexual misconduct with five boys from 2013 to 2019 – due to a lack of cooperation from witnesses.

The council said the investigation report was presented to its ethics committee on 3 December.

“In light of the fact that no parent was prepared to allow any of their children to make any statements to Sace, [the] council had no option but to provisionally close the matter with the hope that maybe we may one day come across witnesses [ who] will be willing to assist us with our investigations,” Sace spokesman Themba Ndhlovu said in a statement.

Sace previously postponed the presentation date from 15 October to 3 December because they were directed to another pupil who, they were told, may be of assistance.

“The [pupil] in question, through his legal representative, indicated that he would not be participating in any interview with Sace.

“On that note, we had to submit our final report on 3 December to have the matter closed on the basis of lack of cooperation by witnesses,” said Ndhlovu.

“We are now closing the file and will notify the parties accordingly.”

After the allegations made headlines, the former Bishops teacher resigned and went into medical care. Her marriage was also ended.

An investigation was conducted by lawyers appointed by the school and it was found that she had breached the school’s code of conduct and the Sace code of ethics.

Her lawyer, William Booth, told News24 earlier this week that Viotti had been awaiting the outcome of the Sace matter.

He said there was no evidence of criminal conduct either because the witnesses were not prepared to testify against her.

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