Pedophile principal’s tally of victims now 32

By Tessa Akerman
Australian
April 10, 2019

https://bit.ly/2IpgFuz

Frank Klep.

County Court judge Gabriele Cannon yesterday said his assault against a four-year-old boy was offending in the “most repulsive way” as she lengthened Klep’s current jail term by two years.

Klep had pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault of a male and one count of indecent assault. Judge Cannon said while Klep last offended in 1984, his ­offending over 11 years was “prolific”. She said some of his victims were abused in the Salesian College, Rupertswood, infirmary and one was abused while he was homesick at a school camp: “He was especially vulnerable, which you knew.

“They were young and living away from home. Further in the case of some complainants, they were ill when you offended against them.”

Judge Cannon said Klep exploited his power over the boys in order to offend. “You used your position of authority to lord it over the complainants, apparently safe in the knowledge that they were unlikely to tell anyone or if they did they would not be believed,” she said.

“You were a prominent member of your institution that was supposed to be about love, compassion and kindness, especially when it came to children and the vulnerable, but under its cover you perpetrated evil.”

She said one victim had grown up in a Catholic community and said he was taught to trust everything in the Catholic religion.

“He lost his faith on the night that you offended against him,” Judge Cannon said.

She said Klep was 75 and in good health, but he might die in prison.

“I’ve had some regard to this, although as I said to your counsel at the plea hearing — you got to live a number of productive years in the community whilst the victims in the matters before me had their lives mangled by your ­actions,” she said.

Klep will be eligible for parole in September 2022 and his new sentence will expire in September 2026.