A music teacher at a prestigious church school in Melbourne who allegedly sexually abused one of her students over a period of about two years continued to work at the school with unsupervised access to children for several years.
Shine Lawyers, the firm representing the student, who only wishes to be identified by her first name, Emma, has filed a statement of claim to the supreme court in Melbourne against the school and the teacher. The claim alleges Emma has suffered major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder following the abuse.
Emma, who is now 20, said she attended the school from kindergarten until the end of 2015, when she completed year 10. The abuse allegedly began when Emma was nine, while her music teacher gave her private piano lessons in a soundproof music room in the basement of the school. The statement of claim says only part of the room could be seen from outside through its single window.
“I thought she was a really great teacher at first, she was really nice to me and made me feel listened to,” Emma told Guardian Australia.
“She had a swivel chair that she sat on that was next to the longer piano bench seat. I can’t say exactly when, but after a while she started to sit on the bench with me rather than on her chair and I’d shuffle away and she would shuffle closer so I’d be stuck right next to her. Over time, she’d place her hand on my thigh increasingly high up and she’d have her arm around my shoulder so I felt quite trapped.”
She alleges the abuse gradually escalated to the teacher exposing herself to Emma, and penetrating Emma with a dildo.
When Emma was in year 4 her mental health began declining significantly. She began sleeping in her parents’ bedroom.
“By the time I was about 10 or 11 I was put on antidepressants by a doctor,” Emma said. “At one point I started stuttering heaps out of nowhere, and Mum thought there was something wrong with my brain. I went to a paediatrician and they said it was extreme anxiety and that was when I was then put on medication.”
When Emma was 14 she went on a study exchange to Sweden and began bleeding even when she was not due for her period, and experiencing pelvic pain. She went to a doctor and when they performed a pap smear everything came to a head.
“It felt like the same thing was happening, being in an uncomfortable position, having a foreign object forced inside of me, and after that everything started to come out,” she said. “As soon as I got into the car after the appointment I started to cry, and I stayed in bed for a week.”
When Emma returned to Melbourne she saw her psychiatrist and spoke for the first time about what her music teacher had done to her.
“I tested the waters of telling her, telling her bits over time,” Emma said. “I had mentioned my music teacher to her when I was 11 and I said I didn’t like her but I didn’t say anything else. My psychiatrist suspected it may be her but could not press me or respond to anything. Even once I had finally told her the full story, she never really responded, she just wrote things down and at a certain point recommended that I go to the police.”
Emma and her mother went straight from the psychiatrist’s office to the police station. Emma spent hours giving a video statement. A couple of weeks later, police called Emma’s mother and told her since the case was historical and evidence would likely have been thrown out, they would be unable to lay charges, but that they would keep Emma’s story on file in case anyone else came forward. Emma said the only action the school took during the police investigation to protect her from her alleged abuser was to make her enter and exit the school via a different gate. The teacher has worked at the school ever since.
“One time after she knew I’d gone to police I saw her walking towards me and I jumped into a bush and had a panic attack in the bush, and then I went home to my parents,” Emma said. She said her parents sent the school frequent emails asking what they were doing to investigate and to keep Emma safe from the teacher, but that the teacher continued to work at the school, including conducting private lessons with students. Emma began refusing to go to school.
“Once the police couldn’t do anything it was a big blow,” Emma said. “I tapped out of the world a little bit.” She left the school and completed years 11 and 12 elsewhere. In the meantime, the music teacher continued to work at the school until the statement of claim was filed to the court in September.
In a statement via a public relations firm, an unnamed spokesperson for the school said when the school first learned of the allegations in 2015 it “took immediate and appropriate action, cooperating fully with the relevant authorities”. The spokesperson did not respond to questions about what that action involved, including whether the teacher continued to work at the school during the police investigation.
“Once Victoria police had concluded its investigation, the school also conducted an internal investigation,” the spokesperson said, but did not elaborate on the outcome of that investigation.
“At the time of the allegation, the school took all available steps to support the student involved and their family, and have continued to offer support wherever possible,” the statement said.
The spokesperson said when the school received the statement of claim, the teacher went on leave.
Shine Lawyers’ Lisa Flynn said the school failed to properly intervene to ensure Emma’s safety when it first learned of the allegations.
“Her pain and suffering would not be what it is today if the school entrusted with this young student’s care did their job and protected Emma while on the school grounds,” Flynn said.
She said the school did not offer Emma appropriate support.
The school did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia as to whether students were still taught one-on-one with doors closed, or whether it had received any other complaints against the teacher.
Do you know more? melissa.davey@theguardian.com
Blue Knot Foundation – Call 1300 657 380 or visit www.blueknot.org.au
helpline@blueknot.org.au
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Bravehearts Inc - 1800 272 831
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1800 Respect - Call 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.au. 24-hour telephone and online crisis support, information and immediate referral to specialist counselling for anyone in Australia who has experienced or been affected by sexual assault, or domestic or family violence.
Lifeline - Call 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au. 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention.
