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Former Trinity Grammar teacher Neil Futcher jailed for 'predatory' child abuse
By Ava Benny-Morrison
A former Trinity Grammar School teacher who inflicted "systemic and predatory" sexual abuse on young boys will spend at least the next 11 years behind bars. Wearing a prison issued green T-shirt and grasping a walking stick, Neil Albert Futcher struggled to stand as he was sentenced on Friday for his crimes against six victims as young as 11, committed up to 43 years ago. Futcher was a primary school teacher at Trinity Grammar School and worked as a swimming coach when he abused his victims between 1974 and 1981. He had also previously taught at Sydney Grammar School and was also a boarding master at Knox Grammar School. The court heard he took boys to school camps, back to his inner-west apartment and organised games of squash, activities which would involve him assaulting the boys. After a trial lasting almost a month last year, a jury convicted Futcher of 22 child sex offences, including eight counts of buggery. Because of an early morning mix-up on Friday, Futcher did not appear in person in the Downing Centre District Court where many of his victims and their supporters were waiting to face him. Instead, Futcher appeared by video link from the South Coast Correctional Centre. As details of his historical sex offences were read out, Futcher, who the court heard denied the crimes and showed no remorse, at times shook his head and sighed. The court heard how Futcher would play pornographic videos for some boys before he abused them, and threatened to expose what happened if they told anyone. In the case of one victim, Futcher took photographs of the abuse and threatened to send out the images to everyone if the victim spoke about what happened. The court heard that Futcher told another victim, who was sexually abused at a holiday house at the age of 11, that "when he wanted his sex he needed to get it wherever he could". Another victim described his abuse inside a cubicle at a northern beaches surf club, where he was naked with other boys and Futcher, as like "a scene from hell". Judge Jennie Girdham said she had to sentence Futcher in line with the penalties of the day when the crimes were committed. She acknowledged that, in the 40 years since Futcher's first offence, the law around sexual offending had "altered dramatically". Judge Girdham said the offender had "escaped justice for decades and enjoyed a life free from ... punishment" for some time. The lack of remorse or contrition meant he had poor prospects of rehabilitation, she found. Whispers of "yes" came from the public gallery as Judge Girdham sentenced Futcher to 18 years and four months in jail, with a non-parole period of 11 years. One man seated in the court labelled Futcher a "grub and a pig" as the hearing wrapped up. "I hope you die in there ... you're a paedophile," he said. Rob Anderson, who was a Trinity Grammar student when Futcher abused him at the age of 12, said the sentence handed down was a big relief. "Overall, the non-parole period particularly was very satisfactory, I feel," he said outside court. Mr Anderson first reported his experience to the police in 1990 and again in 1997 before his evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse led to Futcher being charged. He agonised over telling others in his position to come forward because a guilty verdict couldn't be guaranteed but said his result had been empowering. "I know for myself it has been an empowering process as much as it's been a draining and overwhelming process," he said. "Having him in prison, it goes a long way to us on having a better outlook on life." Contact: ava.benny-morrison@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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