ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Public Hearing - Case Study 32 (Day C096) County Court of Victoria 250 William Street, Melbourne, VIC On Tuesday, 1 September 2015 at 10.00am Before The Presiding Member: Justice Jennifer Ann Coate Commissioner: Professor Helen Milroy Counsel Assisting: Mr David Lloyd .01/09/2015 (C096) C9966 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Good morning, Mr Lloyd. 2 3 MR LLOYD: Morning, Your Honour. 4 5 Your Honour, this is a public hearing conducted under 6 the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth) and the Evidence 7 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958 (Vic). My name is 8 Lloyd and I appear as Counsel Assisting the Commission. 9 10 Your Honour and Commissioner, there are a number of 11 other appearances and I invite those others at the Bar 12 table appearing to announce those. 13 14 MR TOHME: Joseph Tohme from Tolhurst Druce & Emmerson, 15 appearing on behalf of Robert John Bugg. 16 17 MR O'BRIEN: My name's O'Brien, I appear with leave 18 already granted for Mr Powys, P-O-W-Y-S. 19 20 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you, Mr O'Brien. 21 22 MR McKENNA: May it please the Commission, my name is 23 McKenna, initial J, I appear on behalf of [BKL], 24 instructed by Ryan Carlisle Thomas. 25 26 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you. 27 28 MR CAHILL: If the Commission pleases, Cahill is my name 29 and I appear for Mr John Lewis, Mr Lister Hannah, Mr John 30 Hendry, Mr Anthony Inkster, and Dr John Court. 31 32 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you, Mr Cahill. 33 34 MR STANLEY: If the Commission pleases I appear with my 35 learned friend Mr Hooper on behalf of Geelong Grammar 36 School, and on behalf of Mr Stephen Meek, the current 37 principal of the school, Mr Andrew Moore, the current 38 commercial director of the school, and Mr Jeremy Kirkwood, 39 the chairman of the School Council. 40 41 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you, Mr Stanley. 42 43 MR GEORGE: If Your Honour and Commissioner please, I 44 appear on behalf of Mr John Harvey; my name is Andrew 45 George. 46 47 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thanks, Mr George. .01/09/2015 (C096) C9967 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 2 MS KOTHRAKIS: If Your Honour pleases, my name is 3 Kothrakis, I seek leave to appear on behalf of Malcolm 4 John. 5 6 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: You have nothing to say about that 7 application? 8 9 MR LLOYD: No. 10 11 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Leave is granted, Ms Kothrakis, 12 thank you. 13 14 MR NOONAN: If it please the Commission, my name is 15 Patrick Noonan. I appear on behalf of Catherine Parsons 16 pursuant to leave granted previously. 17 18 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thanks, Mr Noonan. 19 20 MR McGREGOR: If it pleases the Commission, my name is 21 McGregor and I have been given leave to appear on behalf of 22 Mr Sutherland. 23 24 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you, Mr McGregor. 25 26 MR FORDHAM: May it please the Commission, my name is 27 Fordham, I appear in the interests of Mr Sampson pursuant 28 to leave granted on 20 August. 29 30 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you, Mr Fordham. 31 32 DR MARICH: If the Commission pleases, my name is Marich 33 and I appear on behalf of Dr Robert Llewellyn-Jones, leave 34 having already been granted. 35 36 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Yes, thank you. 37 38 MR LLOYD: Your Honour, Mr Tohme to my immediate right, 39 who appears for Mr Bugg, needs to seek leave to appear and 40 I don't oppose that application. 41 42 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: I was going to ask you about that. 43 44 MR TOHME: Yes, Your Honour, I do seek leave to appear. 45 The reason we haven't retained leave so far is the lateness 46 of the application. Mr Bugg was the master of Highton 47 Campus. He has been summonsed as a witness, we believe he .01/09/2015 (C096) C9968 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 has a substantial interest in this matter and we 2 respectfully seek leave to appear. 3 4 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: That application is not opposed, 5 Mr Lloyd? 6 7 MR LLOYD: Quite. 8 9 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Leave is granted. 10 11 MR BALL: If the Commission pleases, my name is Ball, I 12 appear for Professor Fergus Cameron and I seek leave that 13 he be excused from attending to give evidence. 14 15 MR LLOYD: Yes, it's not proposed to call that witness to 16 give evidence, Your Honour, so I have no opposition to 17 that. 18 19 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you. Effectively, both of 20 those applications are granted. 21 22 MR LLOYD: Your Honour has in chambers already made a 23 pseudonym direction, and that was done on 31 August 2015. 24 As I understand it, all of those at the Bar table have a 25 copy of that pseudonym list. 26 27 Your Honour and Commissioner, what's proposed for 28 today is that I will deliver an opening address; once that 29 is concluded, there be a short adjournment, followed by the 30 evidence of [BKU] and then the evidence of 31 Dr Llewellyn-Jones, and that we return tomorrow to have the 32 further evidence as per the witness list which has been 33 distributed. 34 35 THE PRESIDING MEMBER: Thank you. 36 37 MR LLOYD: Your Honour and Commissioner, this is the Royal 38 Commission's 32nd Case Study. This Case Study concerns 39 allegations of child sexual abuse of a number of former 40 students at Geelong Grammar School, Victoria. 41 42 The principal focus of the hearing will be the manner 43 in which Geelong Grammar responded to those allegations. 44 45 Geelong Grammar is a prestigious independent school 46 located in Geelong, Victoria. It is a school of 47 long-standing. It was established in 1855. .01/09/2015 (C096) C9969 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 2 Geelong Grammar is Australia's largest co-educational 3 boarding school, catering for approximately 1,500 students 4 from pre-school to Year 12. Former students of Geelong 5 Grammar include prominent figures in business, politics, 6 law and medicine. 7 8 A number of former teachers employed by Geelong 9 Grammar have been convicted of child sexual abuse offences 10 committed against a significant number of former students. 11 The time period during which the abuse occurred ranges from 12 the late 1950s until 2007, a period of more than 47 years. 13 14 In this public hearing there will be particular focus 15 on the responses of the school to the conduct of the 16 following convicted perpetrators of child sexual abuse: 17 18 Graham Leslie Dennis, who was employed at Geelong 19 Grammar in the 1950s. In 2008, he was charged with and was 20 ultimately convicted of two counts of gross indecency with 21 a male Geelong Grammar student and two counts of indecent 22 assault on a male Geelong Grammar student in the late 23 1950s. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. 24 25 John Hamilton Buckley, who was employed at Geelong 26 Grammar between about 1962 and 1991. In 2014, he was 27 charged with a number of counts of child sexual abuse of a 28 student at Geelong Grammar. He pleaded guilty to 14 29 charges, including five counts of indecent assault on a 30 male person, four counts of gross indecency with a person 31 under the age of 16, one count of sexual penetration of a 32 person aged between 16 and 17, and three counts of indecent 33 assault. He also pleaded guilty to a single charge for 34 possessing child pornography in 2013. Buckley is currently 35 in custody in Port Phillip Prison on remand awaiting 36 sentencing. 37 38 Jonathan Harvey was first employed by Geelong Grammar 39 in 1969 for two terms before returning to England. He 40 returned in 1971 and was again employed by the school in 41 that year. He remained employed until 2004. 42 43 In 2007, Harvey pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual 44 abuse and gross indecency with a male committed against a 45 student, [BLF], between 1976 and 1978. He was sentenced to 46 a total of two years and eight months gaol, of which 47 10 months were to be served immediately and 22 months were .01/09/2015 (C096) C9970 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 suspended. 2 3 Phillipe Trutmann was employed by Geelong Grammar as a 4 live-in boarding house assistant at Highton House on the 5 Highton Campus between about 1985 and 1996. In April 2005, 6 Trutmann pleaded guilty to 19 counts of gross indecency, 22 7 counts of indecent acts of a child under age 16, and one 8 charge of possessing 485 images and 159 videos of 9 pornography involving children. 10 11 With the exception of the charges for possessing 12 pornography, all of these offences were committed on 13 students of Geelong Grammar. Trutmann was subsequently 14 convicted. In total, he was convicted of sexually abusing 15 40 students at Geelong Grammar between 1985 and 1995. He 16 was sentenced to six and a half years in gaol. 17 Subsequently, Trutmann was charged with indecently 18 assaulting [BIW], a former student. He pleaded guilty to 19 this charge and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment 20 wholly suspended. 21 22 Stefan van Vuuren was employed as a teacher by Geelong 23 Grammar. On 30 October 2007 van Vuuren took pictures up 24 the skirts of female students while on a field trip. He 25 admitted the allegations and in April 2008 was convicted. 26 He received a community based order for nine months. 27 28 Your Honour and Commissioner, I wish to make something 29 very clear at this point: I have mentioned that John 30 Hamilton Buckley has been convicted of sexually abusing 31 students at Geelong Grammar. There was another teacher by 32 the name of John Buckley employed at Geelong Grammar whose 33 employment overlaps with John Hamilton Buckley's 34 employment; that other teacher's full name is John Michael 35 Buckley. 36 37 To the knowledge of the Commission, there has never 38 been any suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of John 39 Michael Buckley and, to the Commission's knowledge, he has 40 an unblemished record. I will refer to the perpetrator 41 John Hamilton Buckley by his full name to attempt to avoid 42 any confusion. 43 44 This public hearing will enquire into the following 45 matters: 46 47 1. The experience of former students at Geelong .01/09/2015 (C096) C9971 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 Grammar. 2 3 2. The responses of the School Council, principals 4 and other members of staff of Geelong Grammar School to the 5 concerns raised about inappropriate conduct, or complaints 6 about child sexual abuse, where the concerns raised or 7 complaints made related to the behaviour of teaching and 8 non-teaching staff of Geelong Grammar towards students. 9 10 3. The past and current practices, policies and 11 procedures in place at Geelong Grammar in relation to 12 raising and responding to concerns and complaints about 13 child sexual abuse. 14 15 4. Any related matters. 16 17 There will be particular emphasis during this public 18 hearing on the question of what information was known by 19 employees of Geelong Grammar and members of the Geelong 20 Grammar School Council about the sexual abuse by staff 21 members and when that information was known. 22 23 To the extent that the evidence reveals that employees 24 of Geelong Grammar and/or members of the School Council 25 were aware of allegations of child sexual abuse or 26 inappropriate conduct, the hearing will focus on whether 27 their response to that knowledge was sufficient to protect 28 the students of Geelong Grammar and whether at any time 29 there has been a culture at Geelong Grammar which does not 30 treat the issue of child sexual abuse seriously. 31 32 I now turn to briefly describe aspects of the history 33 and structure of Geelong Grammar. 34 35 Geelong Grammar is an independent, non-selective 36 co-educational school which houses day students and 37 boarders. The main campus is located on a 245 hectare site 38 and on the edge of Corio Bay in Victoria. 39 40 Geelong Grammar is Australia's largest co-educational 41 boarding school catering for approximately 1,500 students 42 from pre-school to Year 12. This includes about 900 43 boarders from Year 5 to Year 12. The school presently has 44 more than 350 staff members, 181 of whom are teaching 45 staff. 46 47 The school was established in 1855 as a private .01/09/2015 (C096) C9972 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 Anglican school in Geelong. It became a public school in 2 1857, but closed in 1860 due to debt. It reopened in late 3 1862, under a new constitution, and from 1896 the school 4 has been controlled by the School Council. 5 6 As well as the main campus in Corio, in 1933 the 7 Geelong Church of England Grammar Preparatory School was 8 made part of Geelong Grammar and renamed Bostock House. 9 Bostock House was later moved to a new site in Highton, 10 which is about 15 kilometres from Corio. 11 12 In January 1947, Toorak Preparatory Grammar School, 13 more commonly known as Glamorgan, became part of Geelong 14 Grammar. Glamorgan was later renamed the Toorak Campus. 15 16 In 1953, the Timbertop Campus was established by the 17 then principal, James Darling, now deceased. Timbertop is 18 a campus set on over 325 hectares of bush and farming land 19 in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. Students at 20 Geelong Grammar spend one academic year at Timbertop. 21 Originally, this was undertaken in 4th Form or in Year 10, 22 but in more recent times it is undertaken in Year 9. 23 24 At Timbertop the students live together in a small 25 community and are exposed to the intellectual and physical 26 challenges of living, working and studying in the bush. 27 There is no television, no mobile phone use and no regular 28 access to emails. While the students at Timbertop still 29 attend classes, the focus of the campus is outdoor life. 30 31 In 1961, Thomas Ronald Garnett, now deceased, was 32 appointed principal. In 1970, for the first time and as a 33 trial, girls attended 6th Form classes at the Corio Campus. 34 By 1972, 33 girls in 5th and 6th Form attended Geelong 35 Grammar. 36 37 On 2 January 1973, the school was incorporated under 38 the Companies Act (Vic). In January 1974, Charles Douglas 39 Fisher was appointed principal. During his time as 40 principal, two schools were amalgamated with Geelong 41 Grammar: the Hermitage and the Clyde School. The 42 amalgamation of these schools with Bostock House in 1976 43 produced the Highton Campus. 44 45 Charles Fisher was principal until he died in 1978 in 46 a car accident on his way to Timbertop. Following the 47 sudden death of Charles Fisher, there was a caretaker .01/09/2015 (C096) C9973 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 principal. John Elliot Lewis was then appointed principal 2 in 1980. Mr Lewis was principal until 1994, and he was 3 succeeded by Lister Hannah. 4 5 Nicholas Sampson was appointed to succeed Mr Hannah 6 in January 2001 and Mr Sampson was principal until 7 mid-2004. 8 9 The school's current principal, Stephen Meek, took up 10 his position in October 2004. In October 2014 Mr Meek was 11 re-appointed by the School Council for a further five year 12 term. 13 14 In approximately 2006 a new constitution was adopted. 15 The constitution sets out the duties and powers of the 16 School Council. The School Council is responsible for the 17 strategic direction of Geelong Grammar, the management of 18 the business and affairs of Geelong Grammar and the custody 19 and control of the funds and property of Geelong Grammar. 20 21 The School Council consists of between 10 and 16 22 members. The principal of the school is a member of the 23 Council and the Council must have three members approved by 24 the Archbishop-in-Council of the Anglican Church. Up to 11 25 members of the School Council are nominated by the Council 26 and are then eligible for election. 27 28 The principal of the school is appointed by the 29 Council. The principal is required to attend and 30 participate in all meetings of the Council. 31 32 The school currently operates across four campuses. 33 The main campus is still at Corio where the Middle School 34 and Senior School are located. There is the campus at 35 Timbertop which, as I have said, houses Year 9 students for 36 a year. 37 38 Bostock House in the Geelong suburb of Newtown and the 39 Toorak campus, formerly Glamorgan, provide early learning 40 and primary schooling and today only house day students. 41 Corio houses both boarding and day students and Timbertop 42 requires full-time boarding. 43 44 I now turn to describe the experience of some of the 45 former students at Geelong Grammar. 46 47 It is anticipated that in this public hearing the .01/09/2015 (C096) C9974 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation 1 Royal Commission will hear evidence from a number of former 2 students of Geelong Grammar who were subjected to serious 3 and, in some cases, repeated sexual abuse while they were 4 there. The anticipated evidence of those former students 5 in summary is as follows: 6 7 [BKU] started as a student at Geelong Grammar in 1957. 8 He attended the Glamorgan Campus until 1963 and in 1964 9 started at the Corio Campus as a boarder. 10 11 It is anticipated that [BKU] will give evidence that, 12 when he was in Year 7, his resident house tutor, John 13 Hamilton Buckley, offered to help him remove body paint 14 after a drama performance. In doing so, John Hamilton 15 Buckley insisted that [BKU] remove all his clothes and 16 underwear and began stroking and feeling [BKU]'s penis. 17 18 It is also anticipated that [BKU] will give evidence 19 that, while he was at Timbertop, he was summoned to the 20 quarters of Reverend Norman Smith, now deceased, the 21 assistant chaplain of the school who had arrived from 22 England. When [BKU] went to Reverend Smith's quarters, 23 Reverend Smith chased [BKU] and another boy around and 24 wanted the boys to sit on his lap so he could fondle them. 25 26 On another occasion, when [BKU] was alone with 27 Reverend Smith, [BKU] will give evidence that Smith dragged 28 [BKU] onto his lap and thrust his erect penis into [BKU]'s 29 buttocks. 30 31 [BKU] will give evidence that he did not report these 32 incidents while at school because his perception was that 33 Geelong Grammar had a punishing culture and because of 34 bullying he had received while he attended the school. 35 36 Dr Robert Llewellyn-Jones commenced at Geelong Grammar 37 in 1968. It is anticipated that Dr Llewellyn-Jones will 38 give evidence that in 1971 he was befriended by the school 39 chaplain, Reverend John Davison, now deceased. 40 41 On one evening Reverend Davison began to swing a watch 42 in front of Dr Llewellyn-Jones. During this episode 43 Reverend Davison spoke to Dr Llewellyn-Jones about sexual 44 topics, offered to teach him about sex and placed his hand 45 on Dr Llewellyn-Jones' upper thigh. 46 47 It is anticipated that Dr Llewellyn-Jones will also .01/09/2015 (C096) C9975 Transcript produced by DTI Corporation