Teacher jailed for assaulting students in front of classmates
FIRST ON 7: A Brisbane teacher has been jailed for repeated sexual assaults on his female students as young as six in front of their classmates.
Peter Matthew Malone pleaded guilty to preying on seven of his grade two and three female students at Ferny Hills and Boondall state primary schools, in Brisbane’s north, in the 1980s.
Malone, an imposing man who towered over his young students, assaulted the girls when he called them to his desk to check their homework or work during class.
The attacks would happen weekly or monthly throughout the school year forcing some of his victims to feign illness or find excuses not to go school.
Different victims told police of a similar pattern of offending by Malone who would position them in a certain way behind his desk so he could assault them.
The victims said if they tried to avoid being attacked, he would drag them back into position.
At least one of his victims wore jeans instead of her school tunic or skirt to minimise the chances of Malone sexually assaulting her in class.
His offending has left a trail of victims in his wake, some who say the repeated attacks have ruined their ability to have relationships and trust men. One woman said she has battled an eating disorder since she was seven.
Unconfirmed reports suggested Malone resigned from the Ferny Hills school after a student came forward about the abuse she had suffered.
There was no policy for mandatory reporting at the time and police were not notified.
He then successfully applied to work at the Boondall school the following year where he went on to sexually assault a female student in the third grade class he was teaching.
Seven News has learned there is no record of the complaint to the school in the education departmental files.
The principal of the Ferny Hills school at the time the complaint was allegedly made, told detectives he had no knowledge of the incident.
Seven News has also been told Malone’s personal file with the education department contains accolades and awards for teaching.
Malone started his teaching career in regional Queensland including schools in Aboriginal communities. At the time of his arrest he was teaching year nine at Earnshaw State College, a private school on Brisbane’s northside.
His predatory behaviour was first brought to police attention in 2008 when a victim from the Boondall school complained that Malone had sexually abused her in the 1980s. Police interviewed Malone but he denied it and there was insufficient evidence to take the matter further.
A victim from Ferny Hills school came forward last year when she realised she was too scared to send her son to school to start first grade.
“It was the terror I felt at the thought of my little son starting school that finally spurred me into action in respect of the abuse inflicted on me by Mr Malone," the woman said in her victim impact statement tendered at Malone’s sentence hearing in the Brisbane District Court.
"My son was so excited to start school and I just wanted to grab him and run away to a place where he did not have to start school and have teachers."
The woman, “Sally”, approached Bravehearts, an organisation which champions for child victims of abuse, for help.
They put her in touch with police. Sally told them Malone attacked her at least once a month in class and it was an uncomfortable “routine I came to expect over time”.
“I recall walking back to my desk, looking towards the other students. Wondering if they had seen what had happened or if it was a normal thing for Mr Malone to do to a girl. I was just very confused,’’ she wrote in her statement to Ferny Grove detectives.
Police were confronted with an unusual case as the attacks had been perpetrated during class with other students present.
As they interviewed several victims, including revisiting the 2008 complainant, investigators heard identical accounts of how Malone abused them.
He set up his desk in a way he could assault them during class without being seen and ensured his victims’ silence not with threats but merely using his trusted position of being their teacher.
Sally told Seven News she did not realise how much Malone had impacted on her life until she met her second husband.
“He loves me unconditionally and up until then, I didn’t think I deserved much. (Malone) affected my self-confidence on how I should be treated…it has affected my whole life,’’ she said.
Sally said working with male colleagues remains very difficult and it takes years for her to feel comfortable with them.
“I was married in my early 20s to a man who raped me and I expected it, I didn’t feel worthy of someone loving me, I didn’t realise I deserved better. I believed I wasn’t loveable,’’ she said.
The classroom attacks triggered a hatred of school in Sally who said she became rude and obnoxious to any male teacher.
“I didn’t feel school was a safe place to be. I didn’t feel it was a place I could grow, learn and enjoy being at school.”
Sally could not remember whether Malone threatened her but recalled an incident where he picked up an unruly boy in her class by his ears until his feet were off the ground and shoved his face into the blackboard.
“He never said anything (during the sexual assaults), it was almost like he was not connected to his hand,’’ she said.
Sally said she is confident Malone has more victims and seeing her attacker jailed was “therapeutic”.
“For so many years I have been scared. The police and Bravehearts were amazing to deal with and the liaison people were good. To know that he’s accountable for what’s he done is a really good feeling. It’s (abuse) is such a shameful thing. His plea of guilty makes a massive difference for me being able to talk about it with people,’’ she said.
Fellow student and victim “Bridgett” was also in court to see Malone jailed.
“I had a mixed reaction, I am glad he pleaded guilty but I wanted him to go through the process of us standing up and testifying against him,’’ she said.
In her statement to police, Bridgett said the repeated attacks confused and scared her.
“I didn’t think I could get away and I thought that if I tried I would be punished. Malone would then remove his hand from under my school uniform dress and then finished marking my work.
"This happened frequently throughout the year would happen most weeks. It became routine and I expected him to touch me if I handed in my work.
Both women who attended Ferny Hills school spoke to Seven News in the hope their experiences with reporting Malone’s abuse would encourage other victims to come forward.
Bridgett said the abuse left her untrusting of people, particularly men, and overprotective of her daughter.
“I don’t like male attention and I am always questioning their motives,’’ she said.
“I really don’t have a lot of confidence in myself and I have also suffered an eating disorder for most of my life since the abuse,’’ she said.
Bridgett believes Malone betrayed his position of trust as a teacher but she was brought up to respect her elders.
“I knew what he was doing was wrong but didn’t know what to say or do. I was disgusted and felt dirty, crippled with fear. He always ushered you around to his side of the desk so he could do what he wanted. He would be going through my work at the same time and that’s where I looked while I was being attacked,’’ she said.
She too hated school and would find excuses to avoid going to class.
Bridgett first told her parents about the abuse when she was 21.
“They didn’t know what to do. Their reaction was disbelief.”
The police investigation identified six victims from Ferny Hills and one from Boondall school.
The investigation revealed Malone continued his pattern of offending as soon as he moved from Ferny Hills to the Boondall school where he sexually assaulted at least one of his third grade students in class.
Another Ferny Hills victim who contacted Seven News said Malone’s actions had impacted on all areas of her life, particularly in group situations.
The woman said she suffers flashbacks and anxiety and has difficulties with job interviews, particularly if being interviewed by a male.
“I didn't tell anyone at the time especially as my grandmother was also a school teacher and back then school teachers were more scary (sic). It is something that has played on my mind for years until last year I decided to ask other girls (from school,’’ she wrote.
The woman said she felt the sentence was too short for the seriousness of his crimes and how his offending had ruined lives.
Last week, Malone, now 59, pleaded guilty in front of family and supporters to nine counts of indecent treatment of girls under 16 for offences between 1984 and 1985.
District Court Judge Michael Noud sentenced Malone to three years and six months jail to be suspended after he serves 12 months.
Court documents show the Queensland College of Teachers suspended him following the arrest.
Bravehearts Research manager and criminologist Carol Ronken said child sex abuse victims were often reluctant to speak out against the people they trusted.
“Teachers are clearly put into a position of trust, they spend so much time with our children. Children do build up relationships of trust with them so for that to be betrayed can be an horrendous experience for them- particularly when sexual abuse is involved.
Ms Ronken said sex offenders build a close affinity with their victims as part of a grooming process and begin to make the child uncomfortable by testing boundaries.
“This is confusing for the child as it someone they like and it all plays into the secrecy surrounding child sex abuse. Offenders prey on a child’s sexual naivety. …The child then does not want to tell on someone they love and trust, they do not want to get them in trouble…teachers fall into that frame,’’ she said.
Ms Ronken said there impact of sex abuse on victims can be “horrendous and lifelong”.
She said there were ways and age appropriate times for parents to teach children about protecting their bodies.
Irrespective of mandatory reporting, anyone who has information or concerns a child was being sexually abused should contact authorities, Ms Ronken said.
A Bravehearts’ spokesman said the organisation was training teachers and implementing safety and risk measures to better children with its ChildPlace initiative.
“We know that for the most part this crime is preventable and educating kids with key personal safety messages is paramount,’’ he said.
At least one other former student of Malone’s has contacted police and investigations are continuing.
The three women from Ferny Hills school appealed for other victims to come forward and contact either Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Bravehearts’ Supportline is 1800 272 831.
Morning news break – May 14
