Victim blasts Grammar School's culture of 'covering up'

By Jorge Branco
Brisbane Times
November 4, 2015

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/victim-blasts-grammar-schools-culture-of-covering-up-20151104-gkqf6s.html

Former Brisbane Grammar School student BQA outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Photo by Jorge Branco

Brisbane Grammar School is at the centre of the child abuse inquiry.

A victim of a paedophile at Brisbane Grammar School has accused the serving chairman of the school's Board of Trustees of repeatedly lying to a royal commission.

He told child sex abuse royal commission hearings in Brisbane of a "culture of covering up anything" that would tarnish the school's reputation when he was abused in the early '80s.

The man, known only as BQA, said he and his mother had met with chairman Howard Stack  twice roughly a year before fellow victim Nigel Parodi shot three police officers in Chermside.

In the second of those meetings, about the late '90s,  he said Mr Stack was not helpful at all and kept stating his job was to protect the "fabric of the school and the boys who were attending now".

The witness also accused the police at the time of failing to investigate the "cover-up" of Lynch's crimes after he committed suicide in 1997, saying "no perp, no case".

He said an officer told him the school had "systematically" shredded evidence relating to Lynch.

The witness also said he was Nigel Parodi's best friend at one time and spoke to him about Lynch about 12 months before the shootings.

"Brisbane Grammar have shown no genuine contrition for what happened despite their official stance and have always acted to protect the school's interest above those of the victims," he said.

"I believe Brisbane Grammar deliberately took advantage of my vulnerable state to ensure I would not be able to bring any claims for personal injury within the time limits available.

"I believe Brisbane Grammar and Stack in particular knowingly misled the courts, solicitors and the public at large that they had no knowledge of the abuse that was occurring.

"I also believe that Stack has repeatedly lied in his evidence to the commission."

BQA was abused by Lynch for several years and like many other boys, was made to feel "special" and see Lynch as a father figure.

He told the commission he was blamed for "tempting" notorious paedophile Kevin Lynch when former Grammar headmaster Max Howell saw him in Lynch's office with his pants off.

Mr Howell called BQA a sick individual and ordered him back to class while he stayed behind to speak to Lynch, he said.

"I felt so confused. Part of me felt dirty and grubby whilst the other part craved the attention that I was getting and feeling like I was special," he said.

"I felt that Lynch loved me and he still often told me he that he wished I was his son."

BQA said he had met with the Beattie government about revoking the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims but was ignored and called on the Palaszczuk government to act immediately.

The former student spoke of open knowledge among staff and students of Lynch's actions in so-called counselling sessions.

On one school camp in Year 9, he said he was even bullied about his relationship with Lynch by a relief PE teacher, who constantly told him he knew about his "dirty little secret" and referred to the boy as a "bundle of sticks", otherwise known as a faggot.

His absences from class to visit lynch became so severe another teacher greeted him with words like "thank you for gracing us with your presence today" and "Let me guess, more counselling", he said.

"The boys in my class would often start chanting "poof poof poof" under their breath as I walked past them to my desk," BQA said.