Yahoo News NSW education minister apologises to victims of alleged paedophile teacher Cletus O'Connor
The New South Wales education minister has apologised to victims of an alleged serial paedophile teacher who preyed on Indigenous boys for decades in the state’s west, saying she was “deeply sorry that those abuses occurred”.
A Guardian investigation last week revealed that since April 2018 the NSW government had quietly settled cases with more than a dozen men who were victims of Cletus O’Connor, a teacher, principal and school inspector who worked for the state education department for more than three decades.
The investigation revealed the department had unequivocally accepted liability for abuse allegedly committed by O’Connor during the 1970s and 80s and had so far settled 14 cases in relation to the alleged abuse.
It found evidence O’Connor’s offending was known about by people employed by the state, but that “inadequate” child protection policies meant the state had in effect “harboured” a serial paedophile who “flagrantly” abused young boys.
In parliament this week the education minister, Sarah Mitchell, issued an apology to the men, saying they “had a right to safety when they went to school”.
“They were denied that right by the crimes of an adult that they trusted and the systems then in place were inadequate by today’s standards,” she said.
“I am deeply sorry that those abuses occurred.”
In the wake of the Guardian’s investigation, Labor’s deputy opposition leader in the upper house, Penny Sharpe, questioned what steps the education department had taken to investigate whether there were more victims of O’Connor’s who had not come forward.
The earliest alleged offending, discovered by lawyers acting for victims, dated to 1973, the year O’Connor became the principal of the high school in Gilgandra, about 67km north of Dubbo.
By then, O’Connor had worked as a teacher and deputy principal for more than two decades in Gunnedah, Lithgow and the small town of Corowa, near the Victorian border.
But responding to questions from Sharpe in parliament, Mitchell said that while the department investigated allegations against “current employees” it had “no investigative powers and such matters are referred to the NSW police”.
“I will add that the advice that I have been given is that it is not appropriate for the department to make unsolicited direct contact with former students to inquire whether they are survivors of sexual abuse and whether they wish to take action about traumatic events in their past,” she said.
“It is a choice for a survivor whether they wish to take action about those traumatic events, as it may cause further trauma if such matters are raised with them through a direct approach by the department.
“Obviously the department encourages survivors to contact the NSW police force, which then can conduct those criminal investigations into historical sexual offences.”
The Guardian previously reported that it was understood that there were further victims still processing claims with the department in relation to alleged abuse by O’Connor, and Mitchell told parliament the matter was “ongoing”.
