Primary school teacher charged over sexual assaults on female students in front of classmates
EXCLUSIVE: A Brisbane primary school teacher has been charged with repeated sexual assaults on his female students in front of their classmates.
The man, who was suspended from teaching in 2014, has been charged with 10 counts of indecently dealing with a child under 12 in the late 1990s.
Ferny Grove Child Protection Unit detectives arrested the 62-year-old at his Eaton's Hill home this morning.
Police will allege the man, who cannot be identified under Queensland laws, molested female students in year four and five at two Brisbane state schools where he taught in the late 1990s.
Seven News can reveal the man was previously jailed for preying on seven of his grade two and three female students in the 1980s.
Some of the students were as young as six years old.
In 2015, the man pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to nine counts of indecent treatment of girls under 16 for offences.
He was sentenced to three years and six months jail to be suspended after he served 12 months.
Court documents show the Queensland College of Teachers suspended him following his 2014 arrest.
He 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.
His victims told police he set up his desk in a way he could assault them during class without being seen and ensured their silence using his trusted position of being their teacher.
At least one of his victims wore jeans instead of her school tunic or skirt to minimise the chances of him sexually assaulting her in class.
Two of his victims from the 2015 court case today told Seven News they felt proud that their courage in going to the police paved the way for other victims.
"It's honestly something that has been on my mind ever since it happened. It's never really left. I guess I just didn't really know the channels to go through, to get help and to find out how to get him and make a complaint,* said one of the women who used the pseudonym Bridgett as she cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Her classmate "Sally" said she wondered if her fellow students knew about the attacks at the time.
"It happened in the classroom in front of everyone, so you'd walk back to your seat, looking at people going, 'does this happen to you too? Like, do you know what's going on'?" "Sally" told Seven News.
The man has taught in 10 Queensland schools over 30 years with police concerned there may be other victims.
He started his teaching career in regional Queensland including schools in Aboriginal communities. At the time of his arrest in 2014, he was teaching teenage students at a private school on Brisbane's northside.
Ferny Grove CPIU detectives investigating the man's history have contacted each school.
There was no policy for mandatory reporting by schools at the time of the attacks, so police were not notified.
This afternoon, the man who is still on a suspended sentence, was taken to the Brisbane City Watch House.
He was released on watch house bail and will appear in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court next month.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
