The head of the organisation that oversees St Kevin's College says he now regrets publicly supporting the former principal of the school in the wake of a grooming scandal revealed by the ABC's Four Corners in February.
Dr Wayne Tinsey, the director of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), attended a St Kevin's assembly the morning after the program aired and told students he had "absolute admiration" for its then-principal, Stephen Russell.
The Four Corners investigation revealed Mr Russell had written a character reference for a St Kevin's athletics coach who had been found guilty of grooming a former student.
The program also highlighted cases of misogynistic behaviour by students at the prestigious Melbourne school.
Dr Tinsey told ABC Radio Melbourne the decision to initially support Mr Russell publicly was made in consultation with the EREA board.
"The speech I gave to the young men and staff that were gathered after the Four Corners program was a speech I regret making," he said.
"In the immediate wake of the 4 Corners program, Stephen Russell received an extraordinary backlash against him, including death threats.
"I mistakenly … thought that we could support the man and his family initially, until we got to the bottom of all the issues that had been raised.
"People who heard me speak interpreted that in some way of lessening the extraordinary bravery and courage of young men who spoke out."
Facing huge public and internal pressure, Mr Russell eventually resigned.
The deputy principal and dean of sport were also asked to step aside amid a State Government investigation into whether the school was compliant with child safety standards.
Mr Russell was replaced by acting principal John Crowley, a former headmaster at St Patrick's College in Ballarat.
Cultural problems at the school were first revealed by the ABC in October last year when a video of dozens of students performing a sexist chant on a Melbourne tram emerged.
Education amid lockdown
While many have called for all schools to be shut down completely because of coronavirus fears, Dr Tinsey said he would back the official position of state and Federal governments.
"I think we should be staying with our Government at times of extraordinary national challenge," he said.
Dr Tinsey described staff at EREA schools as "true heroes" as they grappled with teaching 35,000 children in a period of great uncertainty.
He said no student would miss out on a Catholic education if parents were unable to afford fees because of the impacts of coronavirus.
But he conceded "significant sacrifices" would need to occur in school communities.
"We don't know what the full financial fallout is going to be," he said.
"We'll have to share resources. The people are the most important and there's extraordinary stories of difficulty emerging."
