King's School Headmaster Tim Hawkes Defends His Handling of Alleged Sexual Assault at Knox
By Rachel Browne
The headmaster of the prestigious King's School, Tim Hawkes, said he was not sorry about the way he handled the alleged sexual assault of a year 8 boy under his supervision at Knox Grammar School in the 1980s. Dr Hawkes was housemaster at Knox Grammar's MacNeil House when a masked man entered the building and assaulted the boy in the middle of the night late in 1988. He told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he did not call the police because he believed it was the responsibility of the then headmaster, Dr Ian Paterson.
Outside the commission, he said he was not sorry for his response. "I have no regrets," he said. "I have nothing to regret." Under cross-examination from counsel assisting the commission, David Lloyd, Dr Hawkes said he was unaware of a legal requirement for teachers to report abuse to the director-general of the Department of Family and Community Services.
"I was not aware of this act at the time I was employed at Knox and neither did I undergo any in-service or training in relation to this act," he said. "I had no understanding of what my legal or proper obligations should have been in relation to reporting sexual assault on a child other than the requirement to immediately notify the headmaster." He told the commission he expected Dr Paterson to notify the police. Dr Paterson is due to give evidence at the commission. "I was comfortable with the fact we had a highly experienced headmaster," he said. "I had every confidence that proper protocols would have been followed. I was not aware of what those particular protocols would have been." Dr Hawkes said he could not recall seeing police at the school or recall the victim or witnesses being interviewed. He described the incident to the commission as "bizarre" and "frightening" and eventually grew to suspect a resident staff member may have been the perpetrator, wearing a balaclava and an older-style Knox tracksuit. He told the commission that English teacher Damian Vance or religious education teacher Christopher Fotis were considered likely suspects. The commission heard Vance and Fotis continued to work at the school after the incident. Dr Hawkes denied covering up the incident to protect the reputation of the elite Uniting Church school in Wahroonga. "I totally reject that comment and find it offensive," he said. One of the highest-profile headmasters in Australia, Dr Hawkes has written several books about education, including Duty of Care, the main training course used by Australian boarding staff. Vance was asked to resign in early 1989. In 2009, he was arrested over an indecent assault at Knox in 1987. He was convicted and released on a good behaviour bond. Fotis was asked to leave the school in September 1989 after being arrested for masturbating outside a school in North Ryde. A warrant has been issued for Fotis's arrest for failing to appear at the royal commission. Former headmaster Peter Crawley, who took over from Dr Paterson in 1999, told the commission he was "aghast" at the school's poor recording-keeping about complaints against teachers. When he spoke to staff about the behaviour of long-serving English teacher Adrian Nisbett, he told the commission they replied: "I don't know. I don't know anything." Nisbett was arrested in 2009 and convicted of multiple child sex charges, receiving a suspended sentence. The hearing, before Justice Jennifer Coate, continues. Adults Surviving Child Abuse: 1300 657 380 Survivors and Mates Support Network: 02 8355 3711 Bravehearts: 1800 272 831
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