In the late 1980’s our client attended a prestigious private school in the inner west of Sydney. When our client was in year 6, he was sexually abused by his teacher on a frequent basis. The perpetrator was a notorious “shirt tucker” who would abuse students under the pretense of tucking in students shirts. The perpetrator would also enter the boys toilets when students were using them and would engage in blatant and disturbing conduct. Our client reported the abuse to 2 separate staff members on different occasions, however it was simply brushed aside and no action was taken.
The abuse had a significant impact on our client’s life. In particular his distrust in authorities and engagement with his education has meant his career opportunities were negatively impacted. Our client also relied heavily upon substances to help him cope with his ongoing psychological symptoms.
Our client came to us for assistance after the perpetrator died and the school community sent an email to previous students eulogising him as an upstanding member of the school community.
We filed proceedings in the District Court of NSW against the school on the basis they owed our client a duty of care to ensure his safety whilst at school. The school had delegated this duty to its staff and therefore had breached this duty of care when the perpetrator abused the client who was a young and vulnerable child at the time. We also argued that the school should be held liable as it failed to act on the repeated and reasonable complaints by our client. Further, we also argued the school should be held vicariously liable for the acts of the teacher as their employee, in circumstances where our client was a minor and vulnerable child enrolled as a student at the school.
Once we filed the matter in the court, the Defendant insurer filed a Notice of Motion seeking to have the proceedings permanently stayed. This would mean our client would be unable to continue his action against the school and would be unable to bring a claim again in the future. The insurer brought this application on the basis it was prejudiced as the abuse occurred a long time ago and the abuser and other relevant witnesses had died and would be unable to give evidence at a trial.
However, Julie Baqleh and her team fought hard for our client and were not scared of the Defendant insurer’s attempt to stay the proceedings. The team arranged for a joint assessment for our client to provide support for the profound impact the abuse had on his life. Once we had this report, we engaged in a mediation with the Defendant insurer.
Our client in particular was grateful for the hard work and dedication of GMP as this process was the first step in his healing from the abuse and the settlement was symbolic of the wrongdoing by its staff member. If you have suffered institutional childhood sexual abuse, contact the experienced team at Gerard Malouf & Partners today.
Division 10 of the Crimes Act 1900 outlines the criminal offence of sexual assault, as well as the definitions for ‘sexual intercourse’ and other related terminology.
Put simply, sexual assault constitutes any unwanted sexual behaviour committed by one person or a group of people towards another without consent. Continue reading for more information.
The commission has hit headlines recently due to its work in uncovering child sexual abuse claims against various religious organisations across Australia.
However, it’s not just the church that the agency investigates; all major institutions fall under its remit, including schools, sports clubs and government organisations. The authority explores private, public and non-government bodies that have at any point in time interacted with children.
The Civil Liability Act was enacted in 2002 to ensure that people who were injured had the ability to seek redress through the courts.
The Act applies to a number of circumstances where negligence forms part of the claim. Click below to learn more.
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