Mother tells of alleged rape of her 15yo daughter at an Adelaide private school

An alleged rape on campus has raised questions about what students should have to declare when moving between schools.

A mother said her “then-fifteen-year-old daughter bravely disclosed having been sexually assaulted and raped at her … school” by a male student. Picture: iStock file image

• Calls to crisis line go unanswered

A mother has told how her 15-year-old daughter was allegedly raped by another student, on campus during school hours, at an Adelaide private school.

The girl has since been hospitalised and suicidal and her mother says she now “wishes she had never spoken up because it cost (her) too much” emotionally and mentally.

The case has been revealed in a harrowing submission to a royal commission into sexual violence in South Australia.

Published online, the submission has been redacted to remove identifying details including the name of the school, people involved and dates of alleged incidents.

The mother writes that her “then-fifteen-year-old daughter bravely disclosed having been sexually assaulted and raped at her … school” by a male student.

“I have my daughter’s explicit consent to write this … Her statement was: ‘He broke my body, but the school broke my heart’.

“The school would not support us in making any sense of how our daughter could have been raped during school hours, on the school property.

“It was as if we were expected to pretend nothing had happened.”

The submission says the girl reported the alleged assault to police and at least one charge was laid against the boy.

The submission states he “denied the charges and the police prosecution suggested a trial”.

At that stage the mother says her daughter “opted to withdraw the charges as she was self-harming, had multiple suicide attempts and did not feel she could be safe during the legal process of cross examination …”

The submission says the boy left the school and enrolled at another school.

The mother says her daughter’s school “said they were unable to advise the enrolling school on a student transfer as the (alleged) perpetrator had not been convicted and was considered innocent until proven guilty”.

The mother has questioned the school transfer process, saying “it should be noted when a student enrols at another school that they are on bail conditions …”

Laws passed in 2019 enable schools across the public, independent and Catholic sectors to share information about transferring students, without needing to have parental consent.

The student transfer advice form asks for information or records related to “legal” or “behaviour” issues, including court orders and records of “incidents and consequences”.

The Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 also says a principal “may” ask another principal to provide a report on a transferring student, including any “information that relates to the safety or wellbeing” of “other children or persons at the school” where the child is enrolling.

This information is shared between public schools as a matter of course.

Following the girl’s disclosure of an alleged assault her mother said both students were told to stay away from school for a period of time.

Her daughter eventually left the school.

“She desperately wants to achieve her SACE, however … the levels of stress and trauma it brings for her to engage are more than she can manage,” the mother writes.

For support phone Lifeline (13 11 14) or 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).