NSW Dept of Education Responds to Report of Historical Child Sexual Abuse by Labelling Informer as a
Higher Risk than the Alleged Offender, 16.12.2022
A grieving mother who discovered over 500 pages of explicit, intimate communications between her deceased son and an NSW High School Principal, has been provided Dept of Education records under current freedom of information legislation, the GIPA Act 2009, which show the Dept conducted a risk assessment of her as part of its risk management strategy whilst investigating the alleged offences.
NSW Freedom of Information has viewed records showing the Dept’s Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate Risk Assessment (EPAC), actually classified the informant mother as posing a medium risk (to persons unknown) which required a departmental management strategy under its Risk Treatment Guidelines to ‘constantly / regularly monitor the informer to ensure the likelihood of risk exposure was managed effectively, disruptions to the Department were minimised, and outcomes were monitored.’ It is noted the Department did not disclose it was undertaking any such risk assessment.
In comparison to the risk allocated to the informant mother, who is not an employee of the NSW Dept of Education, the Department classified the alleged offender lower on the risk scale, with her position intact and her access to young people uninterrupted. There is no indication the alleged offender was ‘constantly / regularly monitored to ensure the likelihood of risk to young people was managed effectively, disruptions to the Department were minimised, and outcomes were monitored.’
In 2016 the mother first became aware of the alleged historical child sexual abuse, reporting it to both the NSW Dept of Education and NSW Police. After numerous unsuccessful endeavours to file the necessary report with the local Police, the mother was compelled to travel out of her area some 200klms away to a secondary Station, where Police did file the complaint.
Information obtained by the mother included details of Police securing a statement from her son the result of a crime stoppers report, as early as 2014, from a concerned member of the community.
Initial enquiries of NSW Police by the informant mother about her son’s statement returned the unexpected response that no record of the crime stoppers report or her son’s statement existed.This position by Police was reiterated to the Dept of Education in 2016, for reasons explained by Police that QUOTE “there was nothing as there was no current investigation that would … interfere with a DOE Investigation” UNQUOTE.
It is acknowledged Police have since changed that position, with a Police file note recording the information was “withheld from the mother on consideration of privacy issues”, and “not provided to the Dept of Education on the basis that there was nothing current or applicable.”
NSW Freedom of Information has viewed documents confirming a senior NSW Police Officer wrote to the mother, stating QUOTE “(the alleged victim) signed a statement on 20th January 2015 after a case was initiated in late 2014” UNQUOTE, noting that at the time of the crime stoppers report the alleged victim was still 18 years of age, and that no approach was made by Police until after his 19th birthday.
The Officer continued stating QUOTE “when you reopened the case again in 2017, it was reviewed but given the previous signed statement ……….. it was not looked at any further,” UNQUOTE. It is not known whether or not the alleged victim was advised of rights to seek legal advice before making any such statement, or if the statement was obtained under any degree of duress.
In 2018 EPAC informed the mother that the case for investigation was closed due to a lack of evidence to support the claim of historical child sexual abuse.
Tragically, in late 2021 after the loss of her son, the mother discovered the private communications of 2013, between her son and the alleged offender, recorded in his Facebook Messenger, aligning with information provided to Dept of Education earlier in 2016. Additionally, the mother discovered the alleged offender had a number of established social media friendships with former and current students, in contradiction to Departmental policy.
On EPAC’s receipt of those discoveries and the supporting evidence from the informant mother, the alleged offender amended her privacy settings. However, when it appeared the Department was not pursuing the matter further in 2018, those relationships were returned to public settings, being amended secondarily once the current investigation was reignited.
In November 2022 The Guardian reported extensively on the content and context of the intimate, explicit communications between the victim and the alleged offender.
Desperate to alert the public and in particular her local community of the ongoing potential risk to young persons, the mother posted and shared like-topic media articles on her social media page in the hope of starting a conversation.
In particular when she posted a published photograph of the NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell alongside the alleged offender, promoting government support for a major building upgrade, the informant mother received a warning from Dept of Education making it clear that such posts could easily impede any potential investigation, further suggesting the mother seek legal advice concerning defamation.
The informant mother has expressed her heart-felt appreciation to NSW Freedom of Information Advocate Telina Webb, for the ongoing support and information concerning the GIPA Act 2009, without which her endeavours to rightfully access government information may have been made much more difficult. * Spokesperson for the NSW Dept of Education, Sven Wright Principal Media Officer, has commented on this media release further to departmental receipt (19th December 2022, 1.38pm via email) : "The Department is aware of this matter. The employee concerned is not currently working with students. For privacy and confidentiality reasons, we are unable to provide further comment."
NSW Freedom of Information has viewed records showing the Dept’s Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate Risk Assessment (EPAC), actually classified the informant mother as posing a medium risk (to persons unknown) which required a departmental management strategy under its Risk Treatment Guidelines to ‘constantly / regularly monitor the informer to ensure the likelihood of risk exposure was managed effectively, disruptions to the Department were minimised, and outcomes were monitored.’ It is noted the Department did not disclose it was undertaking any such risk assessment.
In comparison to the risk allocated to the informant mother, who is not an employee of the NSW Dept of Education, the Department classified the alleged offender lower on the risk scale, with her position intact and her access to young people uninterrupted. There is no indication the alleged offender was ‘constantly / regularly monitored to ensure the likelihood of risk to young people was managed effectively, disruptions to the Department were minimised, and outcomes were monitored.’
In 2016 the mother first became aware of the alleged historical child sexual abuse, reporting it to both the NSW Dept of Education and NSW Police. After numerous unsuccessful endeavours to file the necessary report with the local Police, the mother was compelled to travel out of her area some 200klms away to a secondary Station, where Police did file the complaint.
Information obtained by the mother included details of Police securing a statement from her son the result of a crime stoppers report, as early as 2014, from a concerned member of the community.
Initial enquiries of NSW Police by the informant mother about her son’s statement returned the unexpected response that no record of the crime stoppers report or her son’s statement existed.This position by Police was reiterated to the Dept of Education in 2016, for reasons explained by Police that QUOTE “there was nothing as there was no current investigation that would … interfere with a DOE Investigation” UNQUOTE.
It is acknowledged Police have since changed that position, with a Police file note recording the information was “withheld from the mother on consideration of privacy issues”, and “not provided to the Dept of Education on the basis that there was nothing current or applicable.”
NSW Freedom of Information has viewed documents confirming a senior NSW Police Officer wrote to the mother, stating QUOTE “(the alleged victim) signed a statement on 20th January 2015 after a case was initiated in late 2014” UNQUOTE, noting that at the time of the crime stoppers report the alleged victim was still 18 years of age, and that no approach was made by Police until after his 19th birthday.
The Officer continued stating QUOTE “when you reopened the case again in 2017, it was reviewed but given the previous signed statement ……….. it was not looked at any further,” UNQUOTE. It is not known whether or not the alleged victim was advised of rights to seek legal advice before making any such statement, or if the statement was obtained under any degree of duress.
In 2018 EPAC informed the mother that the case for investigation was closed due to a lack of evidence to support the claim of historical child sexual abuse.
Tragically, in late 2021 after the loss of her son, the mother discovered the private communications of 2013, between her son and the alleged offender, recorded in his Facebook Messenger, aligning with information provided to Dept of Education earlier in 2016. Additionally, the mother discovered the alleged offender had a number of established social media friendships with former and current students, in contradiction to Departmental policy.
On EPAC’s receipt of those discoveries and the supporting evidence from the informant mother, the alleged offender amended her privacy settings. However, when it appeared the Department was not pursuing the matter further in 2018, those relationships were returned to public settings, being amended secondarily once the current investigation was reignited.
In November 2022 The Guardian reported extensively on the content and context of the intimate, explicit communications between the victim and the alleged offender.
Desperate to alert the public and in particular her local community of the ongoing potential risk to young persons, the mother posted and shared like-topic media articles on her social media page in the hope of starting a conversation.
In particular when she posted a published photograph of the NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell alongside the alleged offender, promoting government support for a major building upgrade, the informant mother received a warning from Dept of Education making it clear that such posts could easily impede any potential investigation, further suggesting the mother seek legal advice concerning defamation.
The informant mother has expressed her heart-felt appreciation to NSW Freedom of Information Advocate Telina Webb, for the ongoing support and information concerning the GIPA Act 2009, without which her endeavours to rightfully access government information may have been made much more difficult. * Spokesperson for the NSW Dept of Education, Sven Wright Principal Media Officer, has commented on this media release further to departmental receipt (19th December 2022, 1.38pm via email) : "The Department is aware of this matter. The employee concerned is not currently working with students. For privacy and confidentiality reasons, we are unable to provide further comment."