Three students expelled, 18 suspended over ‘whipping’ allegations at Catholic school

Three Catholic school students have been expelled and 18 suspended after students were allegedly held down and whipped while classmates cheered.

Year 10 students at a Catholic school in Victoria were allegedly held and whipped with belts by a group of other students as classmates cheered, with footage of the shocking moment circulated on social media.

Three students have been expelled and 18 suspended from Assumption College in Kilmore, north of Melbourne, since the alleged incident last month.

Police confirmed to news.com.au they were investigating and had “engaged with the victims and their families”.

Principal Kate Fogarty wrote to parents on November 15 about the “serious incident of disrespectful, harassing and physically aggressive behaviour by a group of students”.

“While we have worked hard to make clear our expectations to all students, this incident has highlighted the need for us to redouble our efforts … we will also bring greater focus to bystander behaviours,” she said.

Ms Fogarty said at the time “several students” had been suspended while there were further investigations.

Assumption College in Kilmore, Victoria, where students were allegedly whipped with belts. Picture: Google Maps

A spokesman for the school on Monday confirmed to news.com.au three students were expelled and 18 suspended.

“Both the police and the eSafety Commissioner were immediately advised of this incident and the footage was provided to them by the school,” the spokesman said.

“Three students had their enrolment at the College withdrawn as a result of this incident.

“Nine students were immediately suspended, and nine others were internally suspended while investigations were undertaken.”

Speaking to The Age, an unnamed father of a Year 10 student, who had seen a video of the alleged incident, described it as “gutless” and said one of the victims was in “such distress”.

“And you can see he’s scared, but no one’s doing anything to help, at least not from what I could see,” he is reported to have said.

“The hardest part is watching the other boys cheering and laughing and thinking it’s all a big joke.”

The father said the school does “a lot” to educate kids about bullying, making “it even harder to figure out why it happened”.

Waverley College in Sydney where six kids were expelled. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The news of the alleged incident comes after it was revealed last week six students from an all-boys Catholic private school in Sydney were expelled over an alleged brutal hazing scandal.

An exclusive investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed up to 16 year 7 students at Waverley College may have been targeted by a group of students in year 9.

Some of the alleged hazing stunts include young students being locked in fire hydrant cupboards and belted to the extent that they were left with bruises and severe welts. Some were also alleged to have been forced to bark like dogs, and lick other student’s shoes.

Another incident allegedly involved the year 7 students being taken to a separate classroom that wasn’t monitored by CCTV cameras, where one student had a swastika drawn on his wrist, while others were filmed saying derogatory phrases like: “I’m your b**ch”.

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