Camberwell Grammar teacher Trevor Spurritt ‘maintains his innocence’ over sex assault convictions
The victims of a Camberwell Grammar teacher who sexually assaulted them have revealed devastating details of the trauma wreaked on their lives — but he continues to maintain his innocence.
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A private schoolteacher convicted of historic sex assault against boys in class and on camps has claimed he is innocent, as his victims detailed the horror toll on their lives.
Former Camberwell Grammar teacher Trevor Alan Spurritt, 76, was found guilty of nine indecent assault charges against four students from 1969 to 1971.
In a pre-sentence hearing at the County Court, one victim — who suffered suicidal thoughts “regularly” — said in a statement he hoped the guilty verdict “prompts an admission that this did occur” from Camberwell Grammar.
Another victim said he thought about Spurritt’s abuse of him “every single day … the thought of his hands pawing over me for his own pleasure”.
“I despise him for it,” he said in a statement read to the court.
Defence barrister Dermot Dann QC told the court Spurritt “maintains his innocence” over verdicts he touched students in the classroom and elsewhere, and performed a lewd act on a boy sleeping on the top bunk in a hut on school camp.
“He, his family and friends are determined he fight on,” Mr Dann said, before introducing “a large number of character references”.
Outside of court, the victim who initiated legal proceedings said he’d been left so traumatised by the case that “I don’t see a future”.
“I’ve lost my wife, I’ve lost my family, I’ve lost my home,” David* said.
The man said the abuse he suffered as a 12-year-old at the hands of his teacher had “affected everything”.
“It leads you to a life of drugs and alcohol and when you’re doing it, you can’t see what the trigger was but I can trace it all the way back to this now,” he said.
David, who now lives in the UK, made his initial police complaint eight years ago, when his eldest son turned the same age he was when he was abused.
“It just came back to me, everything that happened,” he said. “It’s ripped me apart.”
David said the case has affected his relationship with his family.
“My eldest is 19 now … those years when I should have been closer to them, I haven’t been and I can’t have those years back again,” he said.
While Spurritt was found guilty in September, he has remained on bail, with his sentencing now adjourned to February next year.
“The court has actually made me feel like even more of a victim,” David said.
While he has been awarded counselling though Victims of Crime, he said he had been unable to access it overseas and expects to be homeless come January.
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While Spurritt faces prison time, David said, “I’m not sure whether it’s been worth it or not”.
“It’s been too damaging for me, I’ve lost everything,” he said.
“What price have I had to pay for something that wasn’t my fault?”
Judge Patricia Riddell deferred sentencing so Spurritt could have knee replacement surgery.
“In the circumstances, I’m not going to stop that medical procedure from going ahead,” she said.
The court heard Spurritt had ongoing complications from prostate cancer, requires the knee replacement due to osteoarthritis, has been diagnosed with obesity and high blood pressure along with stress, anxiety and insomnia.
Mr Dann asked the court to consider a suspended jail term.
“The man unfortunately is on the decline,” Mr Dann said.
“He is of advancing age and he has a series of conditions that are very likely to get worse.”
Spurritt’s bail was extended and the matter adjourned for sentencing on February 12, 2020.
*Not his real name