Good Shepherd Lutheran College gripped by porn scandal

Key staff and many students have failed to turn up and furious parents are demanding answers as a porn scandal engulfs a prestigious Queensland school.

A mother at the school has blown the whistle on the scandal. Picture: Patrick Woods

Several key staff and many students were absent from Monday morning assembly as the embattled Good Shepherd Lutheran College deals with mounting fallout from a pornographic social media scandal.

Additional administration staff have also been hired to deal with mounting phone calls from furious parents demanding answers from the Christian school about why it took months for the potentially illegal online content to be reported to police.

Following an exclusive investigation by The Courier-Mail on the weekend, it can also be revealed parents are marshalling a lobby group to personally meet with the Noosaville school’s governing body, Lutheran Education Queensland, about the matter.

They are calling for a “full and independent” investigation into why – when a parent advised the school and LEQ on February 27 about the “disgusting and disturbing” nude imagery on TikTok and Snapchat – it took almost three months for the LEQ to report it to police, on May 16.

Good Shepherd Lutheran College at Noosaville

Police officers from the Sunshine Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit have begun initial investigations.

The offensive material – which depicts pedophilia, bestiality and other hard-core pornography as well as covert videos of teachers in class – was posted and possibly created by a dozen 12- and 13-year-olds last year.

It was only taken down on Sunday following this masthead’s investigations.

Premier David Crisafulli has expressed his disgust at the slow response of schools and tech giants to address potentially illegal content being shared by students.

“The thought that somehow we can live in a society where the big tech giants can allow things like that on their platform and there’s no accountability to remove them, there’s no swift action, and yet they can continue to cream millions from people on things like advertising and racking up users, I find that sickening, and I think it needs to be called out,” he said on Sunday.

Premier David Crisafulli. Picture: Tertius Pickard/NCA NewsWire

“Likewise, we all have a duty. If something like that is there, we have to act, and police take that seriously.

“It’s not, it’s not a joke. It is serious. It’s really serious, it’s a crime. And we don’t, we have a zero tolerance approach to crime in all its forms, whether it’s on a street or in a computer.”

Parents have also expressed their outrage on a Good Shepherd social media page.

“This is not just a scandal. It is a betrayal of trust, of responsibility, and most damningly, of the Christian mission the school claims to uphold: ‘To offer a Christian education in a caring environment’,” one parent said.

“Lutheran Education Queensland must act. A full and independent investigation is warranted. This failure is not something that can be quietly managed away.

“Where was the care? Where was the moral compass?”

The parents also said it was “not enough to claim Christian identity while remaining silent when vulnerable children are being harmed”.

“For months, one parent raised the alarm. They emailed. They pleaded. They followed every proper channel in good faith,” they said.

“The response from the school was slow and defensive. In that time, students were exposed to explicit content, ridiculed and bullied by their peers, and abandoned by those charged with protecting them.”

Good Shepherd Lutheran College and Lutheran Education Queensland have been contacted for further comment.

Previously, in a statement, LEQ acting executive director Nick Verreynne said: “Following the matter being reported to the police by Lutheran Education Queensland, the matter is now the subject of a police investigation, and both the college and Lutheran Education Queensland are co-operating fully with authorities.

“As the matter is under police investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

The school has not responded to repeated questions by The Courier-Mail since Friday morning.

On Friday evening, shortly after 6pm, principal Anthony Dyer sent a letter to parents saying the college “is aware of online material that appears to have been created or shared by students, including images of some staff members taken without their awareness”.

“We are deeply concerned by the sharing of the alleged material and share the community’s abhorrence of such content, and the unauthorised manner in which it was obtained.

“In the interests of transparency, I thought it important to share this news with you directly,” Mr Dyer wrote.

“There is also a possibility it may attract media attention, and I wanted you to hear it from me first.”

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Originally published as Good Shepherd Lutheran College gripped by porn scandal