BishopAccountability.org
	Principal Charged for Failure to Report Suspected Abuse By Michael Mckenna The Australian May 13, 2009 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25471729-5006786,00.html A PRIMARY school principal from Toowoomba in southeast Queensland has become the first educator in Australia to face court for allegedly failing to report suspected child abuse, against a teacher later charged with raping 13 young girls. The principal of the regional Catholic college yesterday appeared in the Toowoomba Magistrate's Court on a single charge of failing to inform police of a 2007 complaint from a nine-year-old girl and her parents of alleged repeated abuse by a teacher, who also served as the school's child protection officer. The teacher is alleged to have continued to abuse the young girl and her classmates -- sometimes while sitting at his desk -- for another 14 months. A 60-year-old veteran of the Catholic education system in NSW and Queensland, the teacher was arrested in November last year after another student made a complaint of sexual assault directly to police. He is facing 46 charges of rape and indecent treatment of a child under 12 years, with police last year telling a court that they expected more complainants to come forward after he is publicly identified. Under Queensland law, the teacher cannot be identified unless he is committed to trial. The charge against the principal, who also cannot be named, is believed to be the first time that anyone has been charged under laws mandating the reporting to police of any suspicions of sex abuse by a school staff member. The charges follow an investigation and series of reports by The Australian alleging inaction by the principal and Catholic Education to the nine-year-old girl's complaint in November 2007 of abuse against the primary school teacher. The Bligh Government and Queensland police ordered investigations into the allegations after The Australian's reports. Two other investigations, involving the school and teacher accreditation boards, are still under way. Catholic Education authorities have told The Australian that the principal had confronted the teacher over the complaint, but later accepted his written denial. After the complaint, the teacher, a father who police allege confessed to abusing some of the girls, remained at the school but retired suddenly last year. The principal yesterday was granted bail and remanded to reappear in court on July 7.
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