Pedophile Coogan’s trail of victims are still seeking redress

A notorious pedophile teacher moved from school to school across Geelong leaving behind a trail of victims, it has been revealed, some of whom may have never come forward.

Convicted pedophile John Coogan, pictured in St Joseph's College Geelong Yearbook 1984.

A notorious pedophile teacher moved from school to school across Geelong for over two decades, it has been revealed, with some victims launching a fresh fight for compensation.

John Patrick “Jack” Coogan was a physical education teacher who abused schoolboys from as early as 1962 until into the 1980s.

A Geelong-based legal firm is now seeking witnesses to come forward for potential historical complaints against the deceased vile predator when he was at the Bell Park High School (BPHS), North Geelong High School (NGHS) and St Joseph’s College (SJC).

One of his victims at BPHS Brad*, not his real name, said he was a “shy” and “sensitive” student when he was attacked by Coogan.

It is only now the 66 year-old, who has struggled with alcoholism and insecure relationships for his adult life, is seeking monetary compensation.

He recalled being late to class one morning and alone in a change room when he was called into his offenders office.

“We were just standing there, face-to-face, and he was saying something about basketball,” Patrick said.

He then sexually abused the boy, including performing oral sex, before sending the terrified boy back to class.

“The safest way seemed to be to say nothing, so I kept it to myself,” he said.

Arnold Thomas and Becker principal, Jodie Harris, said the firm believed there may have been more complaints made to BPHS about Coogan which were not acted upon during the early 1970s.

“If anyone has any information about Coogan, we urge them to get in contact with us.” she said.

Convicted pedophile John Coogan, pictured in St Joseph's College Geelong Yearbook 1974.

Coogan was convicted in 1994 on a string of child sex offences and sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Notes from a witness at his criminal trial report he sexually abused at least 17 boys.

One survivor, John*, was molested repeatedly at SJC between 1978 and 1981.

He said looking back he knows multiple students at “gym time” were being groomed with “sports massages”, but he had never told a soul.

“I was one of Coogan’s special sports students who had access to a private gym in the school at lunchtimes,” he said.

In 1997 he received a meagre civil settlement for the abuse, as part of the Catholic Church’s ‘Melbourne response’ to abuse which awarded survivors payouts of as little as $17,000.

“This included signing a nondisclosure clause and finalising the matter with no right to reapply for compensation,” he said.

The string of settlements have since been accused of a way of silencing sex abuse victims with inadequate compensation.

Following legislative changes prompted by a Royal Commission, survivors can now re-open these cases to seek further compensation.

John reopened his case with Anrold Thomas and Becker earlier this year and was awarded more than $1m in a milestone settlement.

Ms Harris said his win came after they had located a witness who had warned SJC about Coogan in 1976, but the school had allegedly not acted on the complaint.

Other survivors have also since reopened their cases relating to Coogan, including another SJC alumni who was sexually abused in Ocean Grove, and another who was abused for three years during primary school at SJC.

A Christian Brothers Oceania Province spokesman said the institution now participated in the National Redress Scheme and any person with any complaint should lodge an application.

“Any matter brought forward under a civil claim will be managed in line with the established judicial process,” he said.

Ms Harris said redress is not often the best option as once a person accepts redress that’s all they can ever get, but civil claims get on average $800,000.

“It is capped at $150,000 and it extinguishes peoples rights to make a civil claim,” she said.

St Joseph’s College Geelong Principal, Tony Paatsch, said the school had entered the National Redress Scheme and offered a formal public apology to every former student who experienced abuse of any kind at the College.

“St Joseph’s is committed to ensuring that every student is safe, respected and heard, and that our school environment is such that we could never see a repeat of the past,” he said.

Originally published as Pedophile Coogan’s trail of victims are still seeking redress