Royal Commission: Cranbrook praises principal's testimony at child sex abuse inquiry

By Eryk Bagshaw
Sydney Morning Herald
September 14, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/royal-commission-cranbrook-praises-principals-testimony-at-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-20150913-gjls2l.html

Cranbrook headmaster Nicholas Sampson: wrote to parents. Photo by Craig Sillitoe

Cranbrook College Sydney, Wednesday 11th Dec 2013 Photo by Danielle Smith

Former Geelong Grammar teacher Jonathan Harvey. Photo by Luis Ascui

The Cranbrook school council has praised the testimony given by the school's headmaster at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. On Monday the school's board, lead by prominent businesspeople Helen Nugent and Roger Massy-Greene, emphatically re-affirmed their support of the headmaster, Nicholas Sampson. 

"The headmaster continues to have the full support of the school council," the board wrote in a letter to parents. 

"Further, council commends the candid and reflective approach taken by the headmaster in providing his testimony to the Royal Commission."

The endorsement came after Mr Sampson admitted that he paid a teacher at his former institution, Geelong Grammar, to retire early to avoid any formal complaints of child sex abuse being made against him. 

After he suggested the teacher, Jonathan Harvey, retire in 2004, Mr Sampson wrote handwritten notes to him praising his "outstanding service" and for his "friendship and kindness towards my family", before authorising a payment of $64,348 for the next year in which Harvey did not work. 

The Cranbrook school council, which also includes University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Michael Spence, broke their silence on their principal's testimony after "recognising the understandable concern of the school community".

The Bellevue Hill based, all boys school charges students more than $30,000 a year to attend and its alumni include James Packer and Channel Nine CEO David Gyngell.

On Friday one parent expressed her reservations at the continuing tenure of the principal, saying the school's reputation had "[been] dragged through the mud."

The commission also heard that Mr Sampson allowed Harvey to remain at Geelong Grammar teaching maths for a further six months after the allegations were raised and that he failed to report the matter to Victorian Police and the Victorian Institute of Teachers. 

Mandatory reporting of child sex abuse in Victoria had been in place for a decade by the time Mr Sampson was informed of the allegations against Mr Harvey in 2004.

Mr Sampson also wrote to parents on Monday stating "we treat these matters very differently today."

"Society has, fortunately, learned a great deal about the grave but important and complex subject of child abuse in recent years," he wrote. "General approaches to the area of child protection have strengthened over time and so have mine."

Read the school's statement and Mr Sampson's response in full here 

In its current form Victoria's mandatory reporting legislation does not compel Mr Sampson to report allegations if the victim was now an adult and requested confidentiality. 

Mr Sampson told the commission that he was acting in the best interests of the student who did not want his identity revealed. 

"Knowing what I know now, I would have operated in a different way," Mr Sampson told counsel assisting the commission, David Lloyd, on Thursday. 

Mr Sampson also defended his decision to allow Harvey to remain in full contact with students for a further six months after the allegations were brought to his attention.

"[The decision] was partly to do with continuity of lessons and partly because we felt there was no continuing risk to students," he said. 

"It was a fairly light touch risk analysis, two senior colleagues and [I] sitting down and assessing if there was any immediate threat."  

Senior staff had expressed concerns about Harvey since the 1990's, prior to Mr Sampson's appointment in 2001. 

He was given permission to allow students to stay at his residence on the school's campus, where it was alleged he sexually abused students and provided them with alcohol.

Harvey was jailed in 2007 for 10 months, with a further 22 months suspended, after pleading guilty to abusing a former student known as BLF between 1976 and 1978.

The inquiry into Geelong Grammar's response to child sex abuse is due to continue in October. 

Read Mr Sampson's letter to Jonathan Harvey thanking him for his "outstanding service."