Wednesday August 14 2024
GIPPSLAND SCHOOL’S
$12 MILLION PEDOPHILE
It has been revealed that a former principal and sports master of St Paul’s Marist Brothers College, Traralgon, has already cost the Marist Brothers more than $12 million in compensation to his victims.
Law firm Rightside Legal has represented more than 20 former pupils who were sexually assaulted by Brother Gerard McNamara from 1970 to 1975.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Education Department had paid $34 million in compensation to survivors of a paedophile teacher who was moved through a number of Victorian schools despite concerns.
In Gippsland the offending happened in a single school over six years yet no-one stopped it. McNamara went from sports master to assistant principal to principal while he abused boys in the sick bay, his office, the chapel and a sports shed.
Laird Macdonald, a Principal Lawyer with law firm Rightside Legal, says McNamara was also notoriously violent.
“He bashed students and pushed the face of one boy into freshly laid bitumen, leaving it stuck in his face. There was a culture of fear in the school, and boys were worried they would be abused, or beaten or both,” Mr Macdonald says.
“McNamara has since been convicted on multiple occasions, spent time in jail, and was back in court as recently as December last year.
“The evidence shows that McNamara abused at least one new child each term, but former St Paul’s students believe there are more survivors who have not yet come forward.
“Initially the Marist Brothers claim in court documents that they aren’t liable for this man and what he did.
But eventually they capitulate, because they know are responsible for this criminal.”
Survivors are also demanding recognition for what happened to them, and a public apology, but Lavalla College, the rebranded, St Paul’s, and the Marist Brothers order have so far declined to do this.
Contact:
Laid MacDonald, Principal Lawyer, Rightside Legal 0412 128 280
Andrew Taylor 0411 156 797
About us:
RIGHTSIDE LEGAL
Rightside Legal has unique expertise in litigating child abuse cases in Australia despite the challenges presented by institutions and churches, and the passing of time.
In recent years Rightside Legal has set legal precedents: the first trial win against the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne; and the first cases in Western Australia and Victoria to overturn previous settlements in sexual abuse cases. The largest verdict for an abuse survivor in Australia. After decades of being denied justice, survivors are now being properly supported late in their lives.
Rightside Legal has also set records, with multi-million-dollar settlements for former students in private and government schools and orphanages.
Not all cases set records, not every case is a first, but every case matters.
Contact details:
Contact:
Laid MacDonald, Principal Lawyer, Rightside Legal 0412 128 280
Andrew Taylor 0411 156 797
