Former Knox head questioned about 'failures'

Sky News
March 4, 2015

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2015/03/04/former-knox-head-questioned-about--failures-.html

The man who ran Knox Grammar School for 30 years has admitted multiple failures which put vulnerable boys at the elite NSW school at risk.

Asked about these failures, by counsel for the child abuse royal commission, former headmaster Ian Paterson answered 'correct', with the qualifications 'in looking back' or 'in retrospect'.

Dr Paterson agreed he hadn't delivered training for staff on mandatory reporting obligations; had no written policies on child protection; had no systems in place for interviewing or conducting reference or criminal checks for people applying to be housemasters and had never reported to police when students made allegations against teachers.

Dr Paterson was insistent he did deal fairly with a boy who complained he had been propositioned by teacher Damien Vance.

He sent to the 15-year-old to the library to think about what he had alleged, before accepting his story.

'I dealt with that entirely fairly because I needed to be certain in my mind that what the boy was telling me was true,' he told the royal commission.

He admitted writing strong references for teachers, after allowing them to resign when they abused students was a failure.

Asked about fobbing off a child protection police officer investigating allegations against Knox teachers in 1996, Dr Paterson replied: 'I am wondering why Inspector (Beth) Cullen did not question me more closely.'

He had referred Inspector Cullen to his secretary and then to the student records, which he knew held no relevant information.

During cross-examination by Geoffrey Watson, SC, representing Knox, Dr Paterson denied discrepancies between his written statement to the commission and his oral evidence was a deliberate strategy 'to play down his role'.

In the written statement, he said teacher Craig Treolar was immediately dismissed for showing pornographic videos to boys.

The commission has heard Treolar was given a six month suspension.

Dr Paterson insisted on Wednesday he had fired Treolar, but after discussions with another master altered his decision.

He told Mr Watson the view was that Treolar was an outstanding teacher and capable of becoming 'an adornment to the profession' and that 'to be so stupid as to show a pornographic video to one or two boys was a very poor error of judgment'.