Boarding school carer 'had sex with boys'

Boarding school carer 'had sex with boys'

November 22, 2009

SEVEN boy boarders at one of the State's most exclusive private schools have alleged they were raped by their female house mistress earlier this year.

The boys have told police that the offences took place on the school grounds between February and June.


Sex charges ... The accused woman leaves court. Pic. Nathan Edwards Source: The Sunday Telegraph

Their 40-year-old "house mother'' appeared in Forster Court last week charged with 34 counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated indecency with the students.

She was first arrested in August over offences against one boy, but has since been charged with assaulting six other students after continuing police inquiries.

Her identity and the name of the school have been suppressed to protect the boys.

The revelations have rocked the exclusive school, among whose well-heeled alumni are former politicians, top-level sportsmen and the sons of several powerful Australian and international identities.

At the time of the alleged offences, the woman was employed by the school as a "caring'' mother figure, organising beds and uniforms.

She lived in a flat adjoining the student dormitories.

She is alleged to have had sex with the seven boys under "aggravated circumstances'' 24 times at the school this year.

Under the Crimes Act, "aggravated'' is a term applied to sex acts committed with persons under the age of 16.

Court documents allege she had sex with one 11-year-old boy eight times while he was "under her authority'' in the space of five months.

She is alleged to have had sex with the other six boys in her care 14 times during the same period.

The woman, who is out on bail, is also accused of having committed an act of indecency in front of four of the boys in April this year. Court documents also allege the woman incited one of the boys, aged 12, to commit an act of indecency.

She has since been sacked from the school, which faces the prospect of more alleged victims coming forward as police investigations continue.

The woman arrived with her mother at Forster Local Court last week before walking into the adjacent police station, where she is required to report to officers three times a week.

She sat in the court's waiting room with her head on her mother's shoulder while waiting for her court hearing.

When approached by The Sunday Telegraph, the woman declined to comment.

Detectives first arrested the woman on August 18 when she was charged with five child sex offences allegedly committed against one 12-year-old boy.

After intensive police investigations, six other boys came forward alleging they also had sex with the woman. She was rearrested and charged with an additional 29 child sex offences.

The charges include 24 counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child under 16, nine of aggravated indecency with a child under 16, and one count each of inciting a person under 16 to commit an act of indecency and committing an act of indecency with a child under 16.

In a brief mention of the matter, Magistrate Shaughan McCosker granted a continuing suppression order last week.

The case is the latest in a series of sex cases to reach court this year involving teachers at a number of elite schools.

But in other cases, where the alleged crimes were committed years ago and victims are now older, there have been no suppression orders.

Four former teachers from exclusive Knox Grammar School on Sydney's north shore were this year charged over child sex offences from the 1980s.

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