Gavin Morris: Alice Springs principal charged with assault steps down from local council
Gavin Morris announced his sudden resignation, vowing to ‘fight to clear my name’.
School principal Gavin Morris has stepped down from his duties on the Alice Springs Town Council almost seven months after being charged with physically assaulting young children.
Mr Morris served as a councillor for less than a year before he was charged with five counts of historical aggravated physical assault against multiple children at Yipirinya, Central Australia’s largest school for Indigenous students.
His sudden departure was announced by Mayor Matt Paterson during Tuesday’s ordinary meeting, a move that the council was only informed about that same day.
Mr Morris was not present during the meeting.
Mr Morris told The Australian he resigned from the council as he was no longer residing in Alice Springs, but that he was looking forward to moving back in the “near future”.
“I’m still doing work with senior traditional owners and other members of the community,” Mr Morris said. “I’ll fight the charges and fight for the community as I always have, and I look forward to clearing my name.”
The council would now reconvene to decide whether to fill the vacancy via an appointment or wait for the position to be filled at the upcoming local government elections, Mr Paterson said.
Mr Morris is no longer at the school, having been stood down with full pay in light of the charges being laid in August last year.
NT Police said at the time the charges were over “reports of historic physical assaults on children at the school” that allegedly “occurred on multiple separate occasions in 2023”.
“The six victims were aged between eight and 13 years old at the time of the assaults, and police will allege the man was an employee of the school at the time,” NT Police said.
Mr Morris pleaded not guilty last year.
The matter, but not Mr Morris, who has been excused from attending, will return to Alice Springs Local Court on April 17.
He will face court in September for a 10-day hearing where he will contest all charges.
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