AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times
November 12, 2015
Jorge Branco
Journalist
The principal of a prestigious north Brisbane school knew a counsellor – now known to be a paedophile – was seeing students at his own home, a royal commission has heard.
St Paul’s School principal Margaret Goddard told the child sex abuse royal commission on Thursday that Gilbert Case, who preceded her as head of the school, made the admission before she took over in 2001.
She said at a meeting with Mr Case, he spoke about school counsellor Kevin Lynch, who killed himself in 1997 after being charged with sexually abusing a student at the school.
“During that meeting, which took place in Mr Case’s office, he told me a few things about Mr Lynch, and one of them was that he was aware students were seeing – students with St Paul’s were seeing Kevin Lynch at his home,” she said.
In the same meeting, Ms Goddard said Mr Case admitted he had received a complaint while Lynch was still alive from a mother who suspected Lynch had abused her son.
Mr Case denies any knowledge of Lynch’s abuses prior to his death and is expected to give evidence to the commission on Thursday.
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