AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
March 4, 2015
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist
Over his time as headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Paterson’s authority was as unimpeachable as his seeming integrity, a man whose piercing eyes were so powerful, so pervasive, he was known as “Snake”. A glare from him could turn an errant boy, including this one, into a pillar of salt at a distance of 100 metres on a dark day.
Yesterday, when he appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse to give evidence as to his role in systemic abuse and its coverups at the school, all was different.
This time the piercing eyes belonged to former Knox students in the public gallery, victims of pedophilia, wanting an answer to how he, of all people, could have presided over it. And instead of glaring back upon us, this time his eyes looked stunned, bewildered, that it really could have come to this.
At least he started well, saying, “I am deeply and profoundly sorry.”
But then when counsel assisting, David Lloyd, took him through the lowlights of his actions, we were all shown that a “sorry” was never going to be enough.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.