Good Shepherd Lutheran College principal breaks silence over porn scandal, saying no students have been expelled

The principal of the embattled Good Shepherd Lutheran College has broken his silence in the wake of the pornographic social media scandal, in a bid to “protect the wellbeing and safety of individual students”.

The school was notified about the disturbing social media content by a concerned parent.

The principal of the embattled Good Shepherd Lutheran College has broken his silence over disciplinary actions taken against students involved in a pornographic social media scandal.

Several Year 7 and 8 students shared the potentially illegal material on Snapchat and one boy has since been charged by police.

The Noosaville school was first alerted to the material by a concerned parent on February 27 but its governing body, Lutheran Education Queensland, did not report it to police until May 16, records show.

On Thursday, June 12, principal Anthony Dyer sent a letter to The Courier-Mail, saying the college had not expelled any students over the “ugly, offensive content” posted.

This refutes what multiple sources reported to the newspaper ahead of a June 10 article which said a number of students had been kicked out.

Mr Dyer was emailed questions about disciplinary measures taken by the college on June 9, ahead of publication, but did not respond.

He has continued to decline to answer the question first put to him on Friday, June 6: Why did the school not immediately report the pornographic material to police as was its mandatory duty to do so?

On Thursday Mr Dyer wrote: “I am contacting you regarding one very specific and significant area of concern. It is not a college based concern, reputational or otherwise. It relates to the actual and further potential adverse impact of some specific coverage on the wellbeing and safety of individual student(s).

A mother contacted the school in February about the posts. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“To the extent you may have been provided with general or specific information regarding expulsions it is untrue.

“This is not being careful with words. However it might be described, it has not happened.”

Mr Dyer also said: “There are specific students who have left recently, or may in the future, where assumptions will be made that they have been involved in some of the ugly, offensive content.

“This is not a letter produced with legal advice or origins. This communication is from me based on my deep and not hypothetical concern for … children.

“I am entirely comfortable with the content of this email being quoted from or shared in full, although I know it is inconsistent with recent representations of my actions and commitment to young people in this school.”

Mr Dyer concluded: “You have noted me not engaging directly regarding previous information requests. I hope that confirms for you the depth of my real concern for actual, individual students.”

The Courier-Mail replied to Mr Dyer and asked if he would be willing to say what steps the school had taken to ensure the wellbeing of its teachers, who have been the subject of covert videos taken by students and posted on TikTok.

The newspaper also asked when the school would allow parents to post comments on their year-level Facebook pages, after it took the extraordinary step on Monday night of shutting them down and removing posts criticising the school’s handling of the issue.

Mr Dyer replied: “Everything I have to say on this matter was covered in my earlier correspondence today, and I have nothing further to add at this stage.”

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Originally published as Good Shepherd Lutheran College principal breaks silence over porn scandal, saying no students have been expelled