Knox Grammar : Lisa Wilkinson "Appalled" by Removal of Ribbons

Sydney Morning Herald
March 3, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/knox-grammar-lisa-wilkinson-appalled-by-removal-of-ribbons-20150303-13t8jv.html

Appalled: Lisa Wilkinson. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

Purple ribbons tied to the gates of Knox Grammar to honour sexual abuse victims were taken down by a security guard unaware of their significance, and have now been replaced, the school says.

Many in the school community expressed their anger that the purple ribbons, tied by Knox parents to the wrought iron gates on Monday to show support for the victims of sexual abuse at the school, were taken down.

Ribbons being tied to the gates at Knox Grammar School. Photo: Ben Rushton

A statement from the school said: "A number of Knox Grammar parents have tied ribbons to the school gate in honour of the brave men who came forward as survivors of sexual abuse at Knox. The school supports this initiative.

"Unfortunately, during the night they were removed by a security guard who was unaware of their significance. The ribbons have now been reattached to the gate."

Today show host Lisa Wilkinson said she was appalled that purple ribbons were removed.

Wilkinson, whose husband and sons went to Knox, tweeted about the removal of the ribbons, saying parents who drove past the school noticed they were gone.

Wilkinson's husband, Fairfax columnist Peter FitzSimons, recently wrote about his experience at Knox.

"While acknowledging that as a big boofy bumpkin, I was not necessarily the type to be targeted by predators, my first reaction was astonishment at the impression given from much of the coverage that Knox was a hotbed of sexual interaction between teachers and students, while the rest of us turned a blind eye.

"That does not remotely describe my experience, or that of my three elder brothers."

He said he was appalled by the testimony so far.

"I do not doubt the body of the testimony of the victims who have come forward – there are too many to deny, and their testimony too cohesive – and I feel for the terrible abuse that they have suffered."

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard the Uniting Church school was advised to destroy documents relating to child sexual abuse while at the same time preparing an apology to victims.

The legal advice was given in 2009, after the arrests of five teachers who abused children at the school.

The royal commission is examining how Knox responded to sex abuse claims between 1970 and 2012.

In his opening address, counsel assisting the commission, David Lloyd, said the school did not report allegations to the police for decades.

"In 2009, a number of former students of Knox came forward to the NSW Police to report allegations of sexual abuse by several different teachers employed by Knox between 1970 and 2009," Mr Lloyd said.

"One of the teachers [who was] the subject of the allegations was still employed by Knox in 2009 and had been employed since 1982."

On the first day of the public hearings, the school issued an apology for its failings in a statement read by its lawyer, Geoffrey Watson, SC.

"The school owed a primary responsibility to those students and those parents to keep them safe from this sort of thing and the school failed to discharge that responsibility," he said.

The hearing before Justice Jennifer Coate continues.