Students abused and spat on as DVD assault row deepens

MELBOURNE - Victorian Education Minister Lynne Kosky cancelled a planned visit today to a school at the centre of a backlash over a DVD of a girl being sexually abused.

Werribee Secondary College teacher Josephine Franklin said the minister had deserted the school just when it needed her most.

She said students in uniform had been spat on and abused and staff were dealing with harassing phone calls in the wake of the scandal.

But a spokesman for the minister said the visit was cancelled to allow the school to focus on student welfare.

The film, shot at Werribee in June, shows about a dozen youths sexually assaulting a girl, 17, setting her hair alight and urinating on her.

A former Werribee Secondary College student, 16, is being investigated and three current students have been suspended for allegedly selling the DVD for A$5 ($5.88) a copy.

A student at Geelong's Kardinia International College has been expelled and two other students are also under investigation.

No Werribee Secondary College students were involved in the assault but the school was being targeted, Ms Franklin said.

"I can't tell you how bad it is," she said.

"The people in our office who answer the phones are having a terrible time.

"People are abusing them and screaming at them, but there is nothing we can do but go on.

"This is misdirected. It's misguided. It's cruel. It's ugly, and it's as bad, if not worse, than the original crime.

"To treat people in this way is inhuman. The kids are scared to wear their uniform."

But the school's staff and 1200 students were kicked again when Ms Kosky cancelled a visit to the school planned for today, Ms Franklin said.

The visit was to celebrate the school's international school accreditation.

It is one of 240 schools worldwide to get the accreditation for its excellence and is part of a development programme run by the Council of International Schools.

"So just when we most need some support the visit has been pulled," Ms Franklin told AAP.

Other local schools had been offered the time Ms Kosky planned to spend at Werribee, as long as those schools were not connected to the DVD incident, Ms Franklin said.

But Ms Kosky's spokesman said the minister cancelled out of concern for student welfare.

"The minister felt that the school's priority should be focused on the needs of the students, not the visit of a politician," the spokesman said.

Prime Minister John Howard said today the DVD incident probably resulted from peer pressure and a lack of parental guidance.

"It's appalling, and I hope they are caught," he said.

Police have interviewed nine youths and are investigating.

- AAP