Trustees of the Marist Brothers sued for $1.2 million by ex-student claiming he was sexually abused by teacher Hugh ‘Oswald’ McNamara
A former student of a Brisbane Catholic college is suing its trustees for $1.2m in damages over claims he was sexually abused by a teacher on a number of occasions after he was caught lighting a cigarette in class.
Education
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A former student of a Catholic college is suing for $1.2m in damages he claims he suffered after he was allegedly sexually abused by a teacher after he was caught lighting a cigarette in class.
The old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is suing the Trustees of the Marist Brothers (TMB), for damages alleging they are responsible for his sexual abuse while a student at Marist College Ashgrove 35 years ago.
According to his claim filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane earlier this month, the 48-year-old man is seeking $1,177,500 damages alleging the TMB is liable for negligence.
The man claims he was molested by teacher Hugh “Oswald” McNamara three times in 1987, after the abuse began when he was asked to stay back after class after McNamara caught him lighting a cigarette in class.
On this first occasion, he claims he asked McNamara to stop, but McNamara allegedly “threatened” him “with more trouble if he reported the sexual abuse to anyone”.
The abuse occurred on two more occasions over the next three to four months, the claim states.
The claim states that TMB failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent McNamara abusing the alleged victim because it “knew or reasonably have known that McNamara had sexually abused other children between 1958 and 1987”.
The claim alleges “McNamara had sexually abused and physically abused other children at other schools operated, administered and managed by” TMB.
It alleges that McNamara abused children at schools including Kogarah Marist High in 1958, to St Augustine’s College, then at St Joseph’s College in Sydney’s Hunters Hill, and at St Vincent’s Boys home in 1980.
McNamara died in 2012. He was jailed in 1995 for indecently dealing with a 15-year-old schoolboy at Marist College, Ashgrove, and he also admitted molesting rugby league star Peter Jackson when Jackson was 16.
The damages claim is made up of $500,000 in past economic loss, and $250,000 in future economic loss.
The claim states that if he had not been abused he would have likely stayed employed longer in a higher-paying job.
The case is in its early stages and hearing date has been set.
No defence is yet required to be filed, and it has not been filed.
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