The Hutchins School avoided apologising for sexual abuse to protect reputation, royal commission finds

By Kieran Jones
ABC News
December 16, 2015

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The commission heard evidence from former students about sexual abuse allegations against former principal David Lawrence. Photo by Sam Ikin

A report into the abuse of students who attended Hobart's elite The Hutchins School has found it avoided apologising to an abuse victim in order to protect its reputation.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released its report after weeks of public hearings last year.

It investigated the school's response to allegations against former headmaster David Lawrence and teacher Lyndon Hickman as well as the role and influence of the Anglican Church on the response.

A student, known as AOA, was at the school from 1964 until August or September of 1965, and the report states that he was groomed and sexually abused by Lawrence who was headmaster between 1963 and 1970.

Lawrence abruptly resigned from the position and fled overseas in 1970 after being interviewed by Tasmania Police for offences involving sexual activity with another student.

He was never arrested over the incident.

AOA first wrote to the school in the early 1990s requesting an admission that Hutchins failed to guard him from emotional and sexual abuse.

Despite an investigation by then headmaster Dr John Bednall in 1994, which found evidence corroborating AOA's story, the school board decided not to apologise for any "alleged misdemeanours".

Further efforts to gain an apology in 1996 proved fruitless, with the report finding the Hutchins board was "misguided and was affected by its lack of understanding and knowledge about child sexual abuse".

Despite a new headmaster and fresh requests from AOA for an apology in 1999, the school still refused to apologise.

The report found the decision by the board "lacked compassion and was hurtful and damaging to AOA in his efforts to overcome the effects of his abuse by Mr Lawrence".

Further efforts by AOA in 2002, in conjunction with former federal MP Bob McMullen, also fell on deaf ears, while another request in 2010 was also unable to elicit an apology, in a move the report said "lacked compassion and was unjustified".

It was only after the royal commission announced that it would hold a public hearing on the school's response that Hutchins wrote to AOA and apologised.

The report also reviewed evidence from other witnesses identified as AOB, AOD, and AOE.

AOB gave evidence about failed attempts to find out the circumstance of Lawrence's resignation.

He had wanted more information to help him understand the context of his own abuse at the hands of French teacher Hickman, and whether it was isolated.

The commission said AOB's anxiety and trauma were unnecessarily prolonged because the school had failed over several years to address his concerns.

It included a failure to provide an "honest and transparent account" of the Lawrence departure in a school history entitled Character Unbound, which "clouded the facts by using euphemism and innuendo".

AOE and AOD were found to have been abused in the 1960s.

The commission heard that witness AOE was abused by two teachers, Ronald Thomas and Ken Dexter, between 1964 and 1972.

AOE reported his abuse to Lawrence, who assured him that he would do something about it, but nothing happened and he continued to be abused by Thomas during music lessons.

He also told his parents about the abuse after he had trouble sleeping but they did not believe him.

AOD told the commission that he was abused by both Dexter and Thomas, but he did not report his abuse to anybody until 2014.

The report stated he has had to live with his sexual abuse and its impact for his whole adult life.

The ABC has previously spoken to Mr Thomas. He refused to comment but told newspapers he denied allegations against him.

The report noted that given the number of men who had complained about being sexually abused and the number of teachers implicated, the nature of the school environment "clearly placed children at risk".

It said the board and the school community at the time should have been aware of it.

Every piece of information was important for the whole record and "if kept accurately may help others to assess whether later complaints have credibility".

The commission said that while there had been no similar failings in recent times, previous boards had failed to come to a proper understanding of child sexual abuse and how to handle complaints.

The school's subsequent apology in 2014 was commendable, the commission said, and had helped "assist the process of healing".

In a statement by David Morris from The Hutchins School board today, the school again made a "sincere and wholehearted apology" to victims of sexual abuse.

"The board regards with the utmost respect the Old Boys who have come forward to talk about what they have suffered.

"Their bravery and honesty is to be greatly commended and admired.

"The school remains committed to assisting all of the Hutchins Old Boys who have survived these terrible experiences."

Since the start of the Hutchins inquiry, the school said it had been contacted by nine other individuals reporting abuse at the school relating to the time before and during the period when Mr Lawrence was headmaster.

The school said it would issue a further response once it had considered the commission's findings.