Brisbane Grammar Old Boys in stoush over social media post

The Brisbane Grammar Old Boys’ Association has hit out at a teenage member who went public after a Facebook post supporting a sexual abuse victim was taken down.

The Brisbane Grammar Old Boys’ Association has lashed out at a 19-year-old member after he went public over the removal of a social media post supporting a sexual abuse victim.

Association president Michael Forrest, an ophthalmic surgeon, took to the OBA Facebook page to identify and criticise the young man.

Dr Forrest, who left Grammar in 1987, said “whatever you think of our decision to take down the post, I personally think sharing a private conversation is disrespectful and disappointing”.

He questioned whether the man even attended the school and said the association was “seeking clarification as to his true identity”.

The Courier-Mail can confirm the young man is a high achiever who graduated from the school in 2019 and is now studying at The University of Queensland.

Former Brisbane Boys Grammar student David Welsh plans to sue the school. Picture: Adam Head

He contacted The Courier-Mail after being dissatisfied with the response of the association after it removed his post, which had a link to the GoFundMe campaign of abuse survivor David Welsh.

He said the association was putting the reputation of the school ahead of its duty to care for old boys.

Mr Welsh, 51, intends to sue the school for a record $30 million because of his abuse by notorious paedophile counsellor Kevin Lynch in the 1980s.

He is claiming for economic loss after he quit his $1 million-a-year investment banking job in 2002 due to chronic psychiatric conditions directly caused by the ordeal.

Since The Courier-Mail revealed Mr Welsh’s explosive story on May 29, more than 30 other men who say they were sexually abused have come forward to his lawyers JML Rose.

More than a dozen of these are from Brisbane Grammar.

Mr Welsh, who is on a disability pension and suffers chronic PTSD from his abuse, is crowd-funding to assist with his legal costs.

Dr Forrest said: “Regardless of our feeling of solidarity and loyalty towards any particular survivor, we do not believe that attempting to destroy the school helps other survivors and other old boys.

“All members of this private group, which includes survivors of abuse, deserve privacy and respect, and should have a reasonable expectation that their private conversations will not be published in a newspaper.”