Headmaster and dean of sport give Peter Kehoe glowing character references
An athletics coach convicted of sexually grooming a child was given glowing character references by the school’s headmaster and dean of sport.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A current senior St Kevin’s College teacher told a court hearing that a teacher texting a student “I love you” was appropriate depending “upon the context”.
The teacher, St Kevin’s Dean of Sport Luke Travers, was giving character evidence at a 2015 trial for athletics coach Peter Kehoe.
Kehoe went on to be convicted of one count of sexual grooming a child under the age of 16 and placed on the sex offenders’ register.
According to allegations aired on an ABC Four Corners program, Mr Travers described Kehoe as having “commitment, enthusiasm, reliability... in all of these areas, he is faultless”.
Theelite school’s headmaster Stephen Russell also gave a character reference to the court in support of Kehoe, leading to calls for his resignation. This is despite the fact that Mr Russell told the ABC the actions of Kehoe were “completely unacceptable and St Kevin’s College strongly condemns them”.
Mr Russell on Monday said he now regretted providing a court statement in support of convicted sex offender Kehoe.
“In the same circumstances today, I would not provide a reference,” he said.
“I sincerely regret that I did so in 2014.”
Mr Russell said he did not “provide support in any way to Mr Kehoe in his defence to the charges”, but offered a “factual letter” for post-conviction sentencing.
“The background to the decision made at the time about providing the reference, was that prior to his reprehensible actions in 2014, Mr Kehoe had no prior charges, or any student or parent complaint of a sexual misconduct nature.”
Numerous current and former staff, students and parents from St Kevin’s told Four Corners the school has a history of failing to deal with complaints of inappropriate behaviour. The college is investigating one complaint by a younger teacher, who alleges he was sexually harassed by a senior colleague.
Staff members have also made reports about two further male teachers, concerned they were potentially grooming boys. One whistle blower said the school pressured her not to pursue the matter.
Past students also allege the school’s leaders did not act to challenge the “incredibly sexist environment”.
The program also recites a rap song about female students from nearby girls’s school Sacre Coeur which calls the girls “fake b*tches” who can’t “take 10 inches”.
Boys from the school were also filmed more than once last year singing a misogynist chant about vile sex acts they would like to perform on women.
Another former student, Finley Tobin, said a boy who “took a photo up the skirt of a female teacher” was eventually expelled but there was “no real acknowledgment of the incident by the school, there was no-one telling us that was unacceptable”.
Reporter Louise Milligan revealed Kehoe’s young victim was in year eight at the time the abuse started. Kehoe stopped working at the school in 2013 but was allowed to continue training the school’s students on school grounds. He trained his young victim alone.
Kehoe’s offending included telling his victim he was “hot stuff”, telling him he needed another hug, saying “love you muchly” and sending him “Xxxxxxxx”. He also made lewd comments about the student’s “oral” presentation and took him to his bedroom.
Kehoe also showed him photos of four St Kevin’s students whom he said had killed themselves because of abuse by Christian Brothers.
His young victim’s lawyer said he ended up in psychiatric care in hospital suffering anxiety and panic attacks.
MORE NEWS:
NEARLY 200 BIRDS SAVED FROM ALLEGED COCKFIGHTING RING
AUSSIES TO BE EVACUATED AS MORE INFECTED
CONTROVERSIAL CASEY COUNCIL ‘FURIOUS’ OVER SACKING NEWS
The victim went to another school then returned to St Kevin’s where Mr Travers later described the episode as a “storm in a teacup”. The school withheld transcripts of this discussion from the victim’s lawyers, and released them highly redacted.
A barrister from the school community said a commitment had been given that Mr Travers will not be teaching some of the school’s boys because of his support for Kehoe.
In other revelations, the program said Mr Russell published an article on the school’s website by Father Frank Brennan saying he was devastated by the conviction of cardinal George Pell. Pell’s two victims were scholarship students at St Kevin’s College.
A lawyer for Kehoe’s victim said the message in Father Brennan’s article “was that victims, the students, the boys, are trouble for the school. And we support the offenders.”