Alleged victim of Highgate School teacher is student at the school, principal tells parents

The alleged victim of an eastern suburbs schoolteacher accused of indecent assault is a student at the school, its principal has told outraged parents.

A second letter sent to Highgate School parents confirmed the alleged victim of the schoolteacher accused of child sex offending is a student at the school.

The alleged victim of an eastern suburbs schoolteacher accused of indecent assault is a student at the school, it has been revealed.

Parents have reacted angrily to Highgate School’s “terrible communication” over the alleged offending by the teacher – whose identity will remain a secret until they have faced court.

On Thursday, The Advertiser obtained a letter to Highgate School parents from principal Nicola Brelsford, advising a member of staff had been charged with two aggravated counts of indecent assault.

In a second letter sent on Friday morning, Ms Brelsford says she would “like to clarify one key point”.

“As I advised, regretfully a teacher from our school has been charged with two counts of aggravated indecent assault,” she says.

“I would like to make it clear that the alleged offending was against a student from our school.”

The first letter sent to Highgate School parents.

A second letter sent to Highgate School parents.

Ms Brelsford has yet to respond to The Advertiser’s requests for comment.

Her second letter has angered parents of students at the school.

“The letter sent (to) us, as parents, is bulls--t,” one father told The Advertiser.

“The Education Department has much to answer for … the leadership has terrible communication and many people have made complaints to the Department.

State law prohibits The Advertiser from naming the teacher, and from publishing their age and gender, following their arrest on Monday.

Under Section 71a of the Evidence Act, the teacher’s identity can only be published at the conclusion of their first court hearing in May, when they will appear on police-issued bail.

Originally, the Act prohibited publication of the identities of alleged sex offenders until they were remanded for trial – that was changed in 2020 following a campaign by The Advertiser.

In a statement, an Education Department spokeswoman said the matter had been handled “in keeping with the protocols laid out in the Debelle Report”.

That 280-page report, in 2013, was scathing of the department’s failures over prior allegations and incidents of child sex abuse by employees.

The staff member is prevented from attending any school or engaging in child-related work … they have been directed away from the site,” she said.