The year 10 boys who admitted their behaviour were suspended;the ringleader,who denied it,was not. The police youth liaison officer was called in to speak to the boys. Most parents gave their permission;the ringleader’s refused,twice.
The father of a girl allegedly raped by a classmate is demanding the government take action to protect children.Wolter Peeters
Soon after,the ringleader – dubbed YH – allegedly raped one of the girls,who was in the same year at the school,while they were a party on the weekend. Despite an AVO and pending criminal charges,it was the girl’s father who pushed for rules to ensure she did not then have to face him in class.
The father took his frustrations with the principal’s handling of the threats,AVO and charges to the NSW Ombudsman. The report,finalised this month,was critical of the school,the NSW Department of Education,and the department’s internal investigations unit.
It found the NSW public system had no consistent or clear way to deal with criminal matters involving students,and provided little guidance on what to do when the victims of a crime and its perpetrator attended the same school.
The ombudsman also told the department to apologise to the girl’s father – who raised concerns about the boys’ behaviour with the principal before the alleged rape – for keeping him in the dark about the progress of an internal investigation,and its findings.
The girl’s father wants the department to go further,and to stop alleged perpetrators from attending the same school as the complainant;to keep a database of boys who have been charged with sexual assault;and to create an independent unit,to which parents can report concerns about the safety of their children in NSW schools.
“The ombudsman has told the Department of Education to apologise to me,” he said. “But it’s my daughter who should be getting an apology. The department failed to protect her.”
Crimes allegedly committed on school grounds by students,particularly against other students,raise serious challenges for schools,especially if both continue to attend (in this case,the boy’s family sent him to another school soon after charges were laid).
In the 12 months to June,police questioned 27 juveniles about domestic assaults (involving people in a relationship,or relatives) at NSW schools,and 19 about sexual offences in schools,according to data from the Bureau for Crime Statistics and Research.
“The ombudsman has told the Department of Education to apologise to me. But it’s my daughter who should be getting an apology. The department failed to protect her.”
The father of a teenage girl allegedly raped by a classmate
They questioned more than 850 juveniles about assaults at school,the highest number in a decade. The NSW Department of Education keeps no records about which students are facing criminal charges,have been convicted or have apprehended violence orders taken out against them
In her report about the events at the western Sydney school,which cannot be named for legal reasons,Deputy Chief Ombudsman Monica Wolf criticised the school’s response on several fronts.
It found it should have taken more action against YH after the initial threats and sexual comments,saying there was enough evidence to indicate his involvement. He should have at least received a caution. “[The school] failed ...[to] take reasonable disciplinary action,” the report said.
The report also found the department failed to look into a complaint that the principal asked the girl to forgive the male students for their harassment and offensive comments.
It also criticised the school’s response to the charges and AVO.
The department defended the school’s “limited action”,saying it did not want to compromise the police investigation and failed to conduct a formal risk assessment because it relied upon police to “give evidence that[the boy] was a risk to the girl”,the report said.
However,the ombudsman found the school did not contact police to ask if its conclusions were correct,and should have done so. It also highlighted that “there is currently no consistent or clear mechanism across the department to seek and obtain information from police about criminal matters involving school students,” it said.
“There is also inadequate guidance to support school practice in relation to managing contact between alleged victims and perpetrators at school.”
The department told the ombudsman it was developing ways to facilitate contact between police and schools. After a series ofHerald stories about schools struggling to manage student victims and perpetrators,it had also engaged an academic to review international best practice in the area.
The father believes stronger action could have prevented the alleged assault,but the ombudsman would not draw a conclusion. “It is inherently speculative,” the report read. The boy was found guilty in the Children’s Court,but his conviction was overturned on appeal.
The department’s internal investigation unit,Professional and Ethical Standards,or PES,also investigated the school’s actions. The ombudsman’s report was highly critical of the PES’s failures to update the girl’s father on the investigation,or to interview him,and of the misunderstanding of privacy rules it used to justify its silence.
It recommended that the department write to the father within three months “to formally apologise to him for failing to communicate with him” about aspects of the investigation.
Education Minister Prue Car said the department was looking at ways to improve complaint handling. “I absolutely support the important work being done to address how our schools deal with these sensitive and distressing matters,” she said.
National Sexual Assault,Family&Domestic Violence Counselling Line:1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at (13 11 14),the (1300 659 467) and (1300 22 4636).