Trinity Grammar School: Rape claims ‘dealt with adequately’ during exam season, by Ashleigh Gleeson, Daily Telegraph (October 24, 2016)

Trinity Grammar School: Rape claims ‘dealt with adequately’ during exam season

TRINITY Grammar’s headmaster has told a Royal Commission the school was making a decision about rape allegations “in the context of a Friday afternoon before trial HSC exams”.

Milton Cujes was today asked about whether he believed the way the school handled rape allegations made by a boy in August 2000 were “adequate”.

“They were adequate in terms of ensuring the safety of the boys. They were, in the context expeditious, bearing in mind that we couldn’t stop trial HSC exams,” Mr Cujes told the commission.

“... My impression... Was that the consensus was this was a dormitory incident that had gone too far, it needed attention and therefore in the context of the Friday afternoon before the trial examinations we needed to act and demonstrate that it was completely unacceptable, hence the endorsement of the suspension.”

When asked about what he did to inquire about the status of the investigations taking place in the month that followed the allegations Mr Cujes responded:

“Two of those weeks... were taken up with exams where I knew there would be some difficulty in following up.”

The commission has heard the Year 9 boy had a simulated sex act carried out on him by older boys and black shoe polish put on his face on August 11, 2000.

He made allegations the same day it happened that other boarders were being assaulted or had wooden sex toys used on them, the commission heard.

Mr Cujes said he did “not recall” seeing an incident report that outlined the year 9 boy’s rape allegations on the day they were made.

The boys alleged to be responsible for the attack on August 11 were suspended from the boarding house until Monday.

Counsel assisting David Lloyd asked Mr Cujes during the hearing: “You don’t suggest do you Mr Cujes, that allegations of this kind made by (the boy) didn’t deserve a proper response and attention because they came to light on a Friday afternoon do you?”

“If the recommendation was that we needed to do something then and there we would have done it, but the recommendation I received was this was a dormitory rumble that went too far.”

Deputy headmaster Peter Green has previously told the commission that he did inform Mr Cujes of rape allegations and about the sex toy during a meeting on the day they happened.

A school counsellor, Katherine Lumsdaine, told the hearing she carried out her own independent investigation before presenting her findings to Mr Cujes nearly a month later.