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	Principal Prosecuted for Not Reporting Abuse Suspect The Australian October 2, 2009 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26152538-5006786,00.html CATHOLIC Education has moved against staff caught up in a sex scandal at a Toowoomba primary school in southern Queensland, after the principal became the first in the country to be prosecuted for failing to report suspected child abuse to police. The Bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris, wrote to parents this week expressing how "deeply distressed and saddened" he was by allegations that one of the school's teachers had raped a number of young girls. The local Catholic Education Office has been under fire over its handling of the affair, with the school's principal charged with failing to inform police of a 2007 complaint of sexual abuse against the male teacher by a nine-year-old girl and her parents. The teacher was later charged with multiple rape counts, with police alleging that he continued to abuse the girl and her classmates for another 14 months. Bishop Morris said in a statement yesterday two employees of the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office had been banned from working in any role directly related to student protection issues involving alleged misconduct by anyone else employed by the diocese. Bishop Morris insisted, however, that investigations by the diocese and the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board in Queensland had found the staff had acted in good faith and there was no attempt at a cover-up. The director of the local education service, John Borserio, had not been aware of the alleged sex abuse until shortly before the teacher's arrest by police, the bishop said. "As I have stated previously, as a parent and a educator, I do not and will not accept any form of abuse, and I stand by this claim," Mr Borserio said in a statement issued jointly with Bishop Morris. "The protection of all children within our care is paramount and we must do everything we can to ensure their safety." But some parents remained sceptical, noting that Bishop Morris had conceded he did not have "the complete picture at this stage" because legal constraints prevented the principal from being interviewed. The principal first appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court in May; the teacher is facing multiple charges of rape and indecent treatment of children aged under 12.
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