Former Senior Catholic Education Staffer Blames Stress for Response to Child Sex Abuse

ABC News
February 20, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-20/former-senior-catholic-education-staffer-blames/5273554?section=qld

[with audio]

The child abuse Royal Commission has heard more excuses about why senior Catholic Education staff didn't report allegations of child sexual abuse by a teacher to police. Christopher Fry was in charge of child protection at a Toowoomba primary school when 13 girls were sexually abused by Gerard Byrnes in 2007 and 2008. He's blamed workplace stress for not protecting students.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: The child abuse Royal Commission has heard more excuses about why senior Catholic Education staff didn't report allegations of child sexual abuse by a teacher at a Toowoomba primary school to police.

Christopher Fry was in charge of child protection at the school when Gerard Byrnes sexually abused 13 girls in 2007 and 2008.

Mr Fry has blamed workplace stress for not protecting students from Byrnes, but he accepts that he should have responded differently.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: These are the excuses paedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes gave his superiors when he was questioned about his behaviour towards students.

In a letter he writes: "It is correct my teaching style does include occasional and brief supportive or friendly pats on students' arms, upper backs or shoulders and I have in the past allowed students to sit on my knee and returned a hug if I have received one. My limited contact with students has never been inappropriate, nor to my knowledge unwelcome."

Byrnes kept teaching at the Toowoomba primary school for more than a year after that letter was written in September 2007. He abused 13 girls aged between nine and 10 during that time, mostly in their classroom.

Today the former senior Catholic Education Officer in charge of child protection at the school, Christopher Fry, was questioned about the letter that was tendered as evidence to the child abuse Royal Commission.

Counsel assisting the commission Andrew Naylor asked Mr Fry if he had concerns Byrnes was grooming children after reading it.

ANDREW NAYLOR: In relation to the allegation of having kissed a girl on the cheek: it's not denied, is it?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No.

ANDREW NAYLOR: He just says he didn't recall.

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No.

ANDREW NAYLOR: Similarly, in respect of the allegation that he had put his hand through the buttoned part of a sports uniform shirt: it's not denied, is it?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No.

ANDREW NAYLOR: He just says that he didn't recall. Similarly, that he had placed his hand on the upper leg of a girl: again, not denied, just: "I don't recall."

CHRISTOPHER FRY: Yes.

ANDREW NAYLOR: Did those admissions and the absence of those denials strike you as matters of concern when you saw that letter?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Christopher Fry told the commission he had been in his job at the Catholic Education Office for 10 years when school principal Terry Hayes contacted him about Byrnes.

The inquiry heard Mr Fry told Mr Hayes to write a letter to Byrnes, outlining allegations he had touched a girl inside her school shirt, among other things.

But Mr Fry admitted further allegations that Byrnes had put his hands in girls' pants weren't included.

CHRISTOPHER FRY: He said that it was "some gossip." Those were his words.

ANDREW NAYLOR: In response, you said to Mr Hayes that you weren't interested in, to use your words from paragraph 52 of your statement, you weren't interested in "gossip as gossip."

CHRISTOPHER FRY: That's right. Gossip can be harmful. Yep. I wanted to establish some better form of information than what he was claiming to be gossip.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: When he was in the witness box, the former school principal Terry Hayes told the commission Mr Fry had told him to remove the further allegations.

Today, Mr Fry denied making that call. But he did agree when it was suggested it helped take the pressure off Byrnes.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Commissioner Jennifer Coate questioned Mr Fry further about his response in hearing the second allegation against Byrnes.

JENNIFER COATE: Can I just clarify that with Mr Fry? You wanted "to establish some better form of information than what he was claiming to be gossip." How did you do that?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: I asked Mr Hayes, "What are you telling me here? Is this real information? Or is this information that you don't necessarily believe?"

JENNIFER COATE: So you've already said to Mr Naylor in answer to his question about not conducting any other investigation into the information that you got. Does that remain so with respect to this information, too?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: Yes. That may be a grave failing on my part, Your Honour.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: Christopher Fry told the inquiry he was in charge of child protection for 11 schools when he received the complaint about Byrnes.

He blamed stress and the demands of juggling a range of responsibilities for his response to the complaint.

He also said he had lobbied for the primary school to have a dedicated child protection officer, but he was told by his superiors it was too expensive.

Senior counsel for the Toowoomba Diocese Jane Needham questioned him about his comments.

JANE NEEDHAM: Mr Fry, the suggestion in your statement that you would have treated this differently had there been a dedicated student protection officer at the time is designed to minimise your role in the failure to report Mr Byrnes to police, isn't it?

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No.

JANE NEEDHAM: You're trying to shift the blame to the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office for not having someone else in the office.

CHRISTOPHER FRY: No. I'm not trying to shift the blame.

MARK COLVIN: Former senior Catholic Education officer Christopher Fry, ending Stephanie Smail's report.