Inquiry hears of abuse at top school

Australia's royal commission into institutional child abuse heard this week that Fotis was one of at least six paedophile teachers who preyed on boys at Knox Grammar. Photo / Thinkstock

Teacher Christopher Fotis left Sydney's exclusive Knox Grammar in 1989 with a reference that described him as "an enthusiast for his job" and "meticulous ... in the standards he expects from his students".

The reference, written by then headmaster Ian Paterson, failed to mention that Fotis had been convicted of masturbating in his car outside another school.

Nor did it state that the boarding house master and religious studies teacher was suspected of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in a dormitory at night, his face concealed by a balaclava.

Australia's royal commission into institutional child abuse heard this week that Fotis was one of at least six paedophile teachers who preyed on boys at Knox, the alma mater of luminaries including actor Hugh Jackman, during Paterson's 29-year reign. During that period, not one of countless allegations was reported to police.

Paterson was "more interested in protecting the school than in protecting the students", according to Stuart Pearson, who was general duties manager at Knox at the time of the "balaclava" assault.

Two weeks of sensational evidence before the royal commission about rampant sexual abuse at the school has not only tarnished Knox's reputation and Paterson's good name but has also left a cloud over the current headmaster, John Weeks, and a former Knox teacher, Tim Hawkes, now head of the equally prestigious The King's School, in Parramatta.

When Weeks took over at Knox in 2004, his staff included pipe-smoking English teacher Adrian Nisbett and heavy metal-loving , sports car-driving Craig Treloar.

Back in 1986, Treloar had admitted showing a pornographic video to a boy and asking him to perform a sexual act on him. Paterson suspended the teacher for six months.

In 2007, Pearson told Weeks about this incident. Weeks allowed Treloar to continue teaching and coaching sports teams until 2009, when he and four other Knox teachers were arrested, after former students came forward.

Weeks also permitted Nisbett to resign, despite a damning report on him by a private investigator.

Hawkes, meanwhile, faced tough questioning at the inquiry about his failure to report the "balaclava" assault to police. He was the victim's boarding house master at the time.

Hawkes - who is one of Australia's most high-profile head teachers, and the author of several books about education, including a guide to boarding house care - told reporters outside the royal commission that he had "no regrets" about his conduct.

It is Paterson, though, who has emerged from the hearing with his reputation most battered and bruised.

Yesterday he retracted earlier evidence, in which he admitted covering up sexual abuse for nearly 30 years and deliberately misleading a police officer who investigated abuse allegations in 1996 following an anonymous complaint.

What is indisputable, though, is that he allowed not only Fotis to resign, but also another teacher, Damien Vance.

Paterson knew Vance had indecently assaulted a boy. He, too, was given a glowing reference.

Vance, Nisbett and Treloar were subsequently all convicted of abusing Knox boys, as were fellow teachers Barrie Stewart and Roger James. Fotis was convicted of sexual abuse offences at a Melbourne school where he taught after leaving Knox.

One of Treloar's victims told the royal commission that "the abuse I witnessed and suffered at Knox was horrible ... It destroyed my chance of a normal education and ... a lot of my life so far".

He had made several attempts to commit suicide, he said.

The inquiry, which has scrutinised institutions including the Catholic Church and YMCA, is expected to deliver a report on Knox in September.