Police called after iPhone nude photo circulated at top Brisbane private school

Students at one of Brisbane’s elite private schools have been counselled and police contacted after a nude photo was circulated.

Marist College Ashgrove has counselled students after iPhone nude photos of a boy were circulated over the summer holidays.

Students at one of Brisbane’s elite private schools have been counselled and police contacted after a nude iPhone photo of a student were circulated without his permission.

The incident happened over the Christmas holidays but Marist College Ashgrove was made aware of it only last week when a parent contacted the school.

It was not known how many boys were involved in distributing the image, which the boy had meant to privately send to a girl.

The students allegedly accessed the boy’s iPhone and forwarded a nude photograph of himself to their own phones and then proceeded to share it with their classmates.

As soon as the school became aware it contacted “relevant authorities’’, which was believed to have included the police.

Police said they were not aware of the alleged incident.

It was not known if the boys involved were punished, as the policy of most Catholic schools was not to confirm suspensions or expulsions.

Marist College Ashgrove students have been counselled after a sexting incident.

A source who wishes to remain anonymous confirmed Marist College Ashgrove contacted police in relation to the incident.

A Marist parent, who declined to be named, said they had lost faith in the college.

“My son received the photo, like many students in the year level, but I don’t know how far (further in the student community) it went,” they said.

“You pay thousands and thousands expecting your child to receive an elite education, but then you hear about things like this happening.

“The school needs to do more to keep the kids safe. It is Marist’s latest scandal and the incident has made me lose faith in what we signed up for when sending him to the school,” they said.

However, a Marist spokeswoman said the incident occurred during the holidays and it took immediate action.

“As soon as the College was informed of the incident in February we acted promptly to

investigate the matter,” she said.

“Those students involved were counselled and their parents were informed.

“All child protection processes were also enacted, including notifying all appropriate

authorities.’’

Marist says it took immediate action after being informed of the incident.

She said the College educated students about respectful and dignified relationships and the responsible use of social media, as well as outlining their personal obligations.

Similar incidents are rife in state and private Queensland high schools and have even been reported in some primary schools.

Cyber-safety expert Susan McLean said schools were dealing with “sexting’’ every day.

The Marist parent said the College needed to reiterate to children that what they did with their phone had “real life consequences”.

“Kids need to be educated that things they do online can have real life consequences, they think sharing and being on their phones is all fun and games … the year level is shocked,” they said.

“I think the students should be suspended pending the investigation, but shouldn’t be denied an education on this stupid decision,” they said.