Tas education system protected pedophiles

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<br>Serial child sex abusers were allowed to continue teaching in Tasmania for decades as concerns, complaints and ineffectual responses “literally piled up”.<br> <br>An inquiry into the state education department’s responses to child sexual abuse released its findings on Tuesday, along with 21 recommendations which have been adopted by government.<br> <br>It found when handling child sex abuse claims the department was primarily concerned with protecting itself from legal, financial, and reputational risks, particularly in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.<br> <br>”(Department) responses over this period routinely involved deflecting or ignoring concerns and complaints, often by disbelieving or blaming students, and by shielding alleged or known sexual abusers,” it reads.<br> <br>”We cannot explain this by assuming that ‘that’s just the way things were back then’.<br> <br>”The evidence in (the department’s) own records shows that (department) officials very often acted in ways that were completely at odds with community expectations at the time.<br> <br>”We saw many examples of parents and others, including teachers and principals, actively but ultimately unsuccessfully opposing the decisions of (the department) to transfer known abusers to a new school.”<br> <br>Only the findings and recommendations of the inquiry, смотреть сериалы онлайн which was launched in August 2020, have been released by the government due to a “range of concerns and legal impediments”.<br> <br>”We have found it deeply disturbing that, as concerns, complaints and ineffectual responses literally piled up in (department) records, serial abusers like (Darrel George) Harington and (Anthony) LeClerc were … allowed to keep teaching for decades,” the report reads.<br> <br>”(Department) leaders and others so wilfully disregarded the obvious risks and harms to students.”<br> <br>LeClerc, a priest and former teacher who worked in Tasmania’s northwest, was jailed in 2015 for molesting 14 children between 1973 and 1983.<br> <br>Harington was sentenced to 12 years’ jail in 2015 for sexually abusing nine kids from 1978 to 2013 while he worked as a teacher, physical trainer and massage therapist.<br> <br>He was sentenced to a further two years in jail in 2020 for abusing two teenage boys in the late 1970s on a Christmas school trip.<br> <br>He gave one of the boys alcohol before the abuse.<br> <br>The report found “significant uncertainty” among school principles and staff about who is responsible for notifying police about allegations of sexual abuse.<br> <br>It determined culture and leadership in the department has changed for the better in the past decade but residual cultural problems remain.<br> <br>”We have seen very recent examples where students’ concerns and complaints have been assumed to be untrue,” it reads.<br> <br>Problems with the reliability, validity, accessibility and completeness of department records made it impossible for the inquiry to determine the rate of sexual abuse in state schools in recent decades.<br> <br>As a result, the effectiveness of safeguarding policies is difficult to assess, it concluded.<br> <br>The report’s authors, forensic psychologist Steven Smallbone and legal expert Tim McCormack, say there is an urgent need for complete records of all sexual abuse concerns.<br> <br>Recommendations include better student safeguarding policies and record keeping, plus greater teacher training around mandatory reporting.<br> <br>The report comes amid a broader royal commission-style inquiry into the Tasmanian government’s handling of child sex abuse claims in the public sector.<br> <br>It is set to hold public hearings early next year.<br> <br>In a joint statement, Attorney-General Elise Archer and Education Minister Sarah Courtney said the safety and wellbeing of children was a government priority.<br> <br>Lifeline 13 11 14<br> <br>Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)<br>

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