Settlements in sight for alleged victims of paedophile priest-turned-teacher Anthony Alan LeClerc

Out-of-court settlement conferences between alleged victims of notorious abuser Anthony Alan LeClerc and the Tasmanian state government are being locked in. LATEST >>

• Ex-Senator, wife cop $75k fine for trafficking abalone
• Firearms surrendered to Tasmania Police as part of national Crime Stoppers firearms amnesty

SIX alleged victims of notorious Tasmanian child sexual abuser, priest-turned-teacher Anthony Alan LeClerc, may soon settle civil claims with the state government.

Lawyer Angela Sdrinis said dates for settlement conferences were currently being scheduled, with the first of those expected to roll out in early September.

She said if agreements over payouts couldn’t be reached out of court, those cases could proceed to trial.

As detailed in a previous Mercury investigation, LeClerc was transferred between four Tasmanian state schools on the North West Coast over four years during the 1980s amid a flurry of complaints about his sexual proclivities.

A transfer by his employer – the Department of Education – to a fifth school in 1987 was cancelled when the allegations reached the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment.

In 1988, he was sent to work at Hobart Technical College, remaining on the department’s payroll until 1993.

LeClerc, now 78, was ultimately jailed in 2015 for six years, with a non-parole period of three.

He had finally admitted to molesting 14 children from 1973 to 1983 after allegations were raised at the royal commission into institutionalised child sex abuse.

Ex-Jane Franklin Hall resident on trial for aggravated sexual assault

A YOUNG Melbourne woman has spoken in court about a nightmarish holiday to Hobart that she says culminated in a sexual assault perpetrated by a Jane Franklin Hall resident.

Jordan Peter Poland, 25, has pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault that allegedly occurred in his dorm room during May 2017.

Crown prosecutor Mick Allen told the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Monday the young woman visited Hobart with a male friend – not the defendant – and was enjoying a night out at a hotel until that male threw a beer glass at her in a jealous rage.

He said the woman became upset and fearful, not wanting to return to their shared accommodation at Battery Point.

Mr Allen said another male offered to help get her bags from the accommodation, but that her friend chased the pair down Hampden Road with a kitchen knife.

He said she phoned police, but they were seemingly not interested in helping, telling her and the male helping her to return to their respective accommodation.

With the other male fearful and deciding to leave, the woman sat down on Hampden Road, crying, until she was approached by Mr Poland and offered a place to stay.

“He was a student at the University of Tasmania and had a dorm room at Jane Franklin Hall,” Mr Allen said.

“She said she wasn’t scared … and that he seemed really lovely.”

Mr Allen said when the pair arrived at Jane Franklin – a university residential college located at South Hobart – Mr Poland retrieved a mattress from the store room and offered the young woman his bed.

He said the pair had not been cuddling or intimate at all during the evening.

However, Mr Allen said the woman woke up that night to find Mr Poland in bed with her, assaulting her.

He said she made an excuse to leave, taking a note of the name she saw on his dorm room, before taking an early flight back to Melbourne.

Defence barrister Kate Cuthbertson said Mr Poland didn’t dispute most of the woman’s claims, but denied he touched her without her consent.

“There is a dispute about how they came to be in bed together along the course of the evening, and there is dispute about the extent of touching,” she said.

The woman, giving evidence before a jury and Acting Justice Shane Marshall, said she’d been in a “mess” after her friend chased her with a knife, but the police “did nothing”.

During her tearful testimony, she said Mr Poland had made her “feel really safe” after a terrible night, before the alleged assault occurred.

The trial is expected to run for three to four days.

Follow @ambervwilson