The Former Assistant Bishop Admits He May Have Failed to Persuade Hutchins School in Hobart to Apologise over Sexual Abuse
By Rosemary Bolger
The former assistant bishop of the Anglican diocese of Tasmania, Ronald Stone, has told a royal commission he could have done more to persuade a Hobart school to apologise over sexual abuse by teaching staff. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is sitting in Hobart to investigate how the prestigious private boys school Hutchins and the Anglican church dealt with complaints made by former students. The former pupils were sexually abused in the 1960s by Hutchins staff, including former headmaster David Lawrence. A former pupil, known to the inquiry as AOA, had contacted Bishop Stone in 1995 after having his appeal for an apology rejected by the school board. Bishop Stone was the assistant bishop of the Anglican diocese of Tasmania when he was contacted by AOA, seeking an apology for abuse he suffered by Mr Lawrence. Under questioning by counsel assisting the commission Angus Stewart this morning, Bishop Stone admitted he could have done more. "I may have failed in that area, I may have failed, but ... I did not have any idea as to the depth of problem that AOA was dealing with," he said. "If this matter had been presented to me today by the standards of today of society and the church, I would have dealt with this differently." Bishop Stone, 76, told the royal commission that he had no authority over school affairs. "I saw my role as being that of conduit," he said. "I didn't have it within my power to do anything with regard to the school." AOA had already requested an apology from the school in 1993 but had been rejected on the grounds that a five-week investigation found no evidence supporting his claims. John Bednall, who was headmaster between 1987 and 1996, took the stand today. In 1994, Dr Bednall conducted a five-week investigation into the allegations David Lawrence sexually abused students. His report informed the board's decision to reject the AOA's request for an apology. In a sometimes heated exchange, counsel assisting the commission Angus Stewart said the report suggested Dr Bednall believed the victim and that he was worried about the consequences for the school. "Your concern was the powder keg of Mr AOA's anger, in terms of the risk of this whole can of worms being opened up in the public domain," Mr Stewart said. Dr Bednall rejected the suggestion. "I'm sorry Mr Stewart, I have to say to you that was never a factor, the factor was how do we best deal with Mr AOA's complaints," Dr Bednall told the commission. Dr Bednall was adamant that he was not trying to cover up the matter. "The school was strong, it was a very strong school, and in the Hobart community it had a very strong reputation." he said. "The story and rumours about Mr Lawrence were extant and it would not have caused a major crisis for the school." "I would say very strongly to you that I did the best that I could and I tried to be absolutely fair to Mr AOA." As the victim, AOA, continued to fight for an apology, Dr Bednall sought legal advice. Documents tabled in the commission show law firm Dobson, Mitchell & Allport advised Dr Bednall against apologising as the school was open to a damages claim from AOA. The letter also refers to an assessment by psychiatrist John Isles that AOA was unlikely to let the matter rest even if an apology was given. "If this assessment is correct then an acknowledgment of the alleged events and an apology may only service to exacerbate the situation as it will constitute an admission on the school's part that the events occurred." Hutchins finally apologised to AOA less than a month ago, 20 years after his first request. The school then issued a public apology on the opening day of the commission via its legal representative Neil Clelland. "The school accepts that the four witnesses who are former students of the school were sexually abused by members of staff in the 1960s," the apology read. "I am also instructed that the current board wishes to apologise for the hurt and distress caused to each of them. The current board also wishes to acknowledge to AOA that an apology should have been provided to him at an earlier time." The commission had already heard from four former pupils who spoke of being sexually abused by former staff, including Mr Lawrence. The inquiry heard Mr Lawrence had left the school abruptly in 1970 after a sexually explicit letter sent to him by AOA was intercepted. A former teacher, Geoffrey Ayling, told the commision he started teaching at Hutchins in 1963 and quit three years later because the school had turned a blind eye to sexual abuse. Mr Ayling said the school's decision to remain silent allowed for a paedophile ring of teaching staff to thrive. "I believe that there was a conscious decision by the school to cover this up in the 1960s and to keep this information about its teachers from becoming public," he said.
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