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	Former Churchie Teacher Jailed for Sexual Abuse By Amelia Bentley Brisbane Times November 4, 2010 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/former-churchie-teacher-jailed-for-sexual-abuse-20101104-17esr.html The former deputy headmaster of an elite Brisbane boys' school has been jailed for sexually abusing a student 25 years ago. Christopher Michael Klemm, 52, will spend the next 15 months behind bars for sexual dealings with a boy he was "infatuated with" in the 1980s. Klemm, 52, had been a teacher of East Brisbane's Anglican Church "Churchie" Grammar Preparatory School since 1983, becoming a deputy headmaster in 1986. Advertisement: Story continues below The boy, who cannot be identified, was a boarder at the school and was aged between 12 and 15 when the abuse occurred. In Brisbane District Court today Klemm pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a boy under 14 and a fourth offence of committing an unnatural act of sodomy against the boy, which occurred in 1988 when the boy was 15. The court heard Klemm, then the boarding school master, befriended the student, who had come to the school after his mother died. In sentencing Klemm to five years' jail, suspended after he serves 15 months, Judge Deborah Richards said Klemm had taken advantage of the fatherless boy when he was vulnerable. "You took his longing for a father-figure and turned it into something sexual," she said. Judge Richards said Klemm had also betrayed the school which trusted him to take care of students. Dressed in a dark suit, Klemm spoke quietly with his lawyers before being led from the court room by Correctives Services officers. During the two-hour sentencing hearing, the court heard the former student said Klemm "absolutely took advantage of me, a child, so obviously needing love and affection." "He had a hold over me, as a young child I did not know that at the time," he said in a victim impact statement. He said Klemm had been like the father he had never had and that Klemm made him feel special. The abuse occurred between 1984 and 1987 when Klemm was between 26 and 29 years old. Prosecutor Vicki Loury said the former student, who now lives overseas, made a complaint to police in 2009 and was "able to describe an unusual feature of the accused's penis" which was verified in a medical examination during the subsequent police investigation. Ms Loury asked Klemm be sentenced for up to five years. "The accused took advantage of that vulnerability for his own sexual gratification," she said. Defence barrister Catherine Cuthbert said her client had been struggling with his own homosexuality at the time of the offences. A psychologist's report on Klemm identified that he had been a sexually inexperienced young man faced with dealing with his sexuality "in the atmosphere of the late 1970s and early 1980s". She said Klemm was infatuated and "believed he had found true love" with the boy. "There was some feeling both ways [between the boy and Klemm]," she said. Ms Cuthbert asked Klemm only be sentenced to 12 months behind bars, saying he had lost his career, his partner of 20 years and his home. She said her client, who had devoted his life to teaching, had never threatened or intimidated the child. Since stepping down from his position at the school upon being charged last year, Klemm had done several courses and had obtained a forklift operator's licence. Judge Richards said she took into account Klemm had matured since the offences, his work with the community and his national teaching awards he had won in the past. She also acknowledged his early plea of guilty, his lack of previous criminal history and his remorse. Klemm, wearing a black suit and dark tie, was supported by several neighbours and friends in court today. After the sentencing hearing, his supporters refused to speak to media outside court.
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