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A former primary school principal has avoided jail despite admitting to indecently touching three pupils in a series of classroom assaults at a school in Melbourne’s east.
Peter Bartley, 51, had recently graduated from university and was working as a teacher at St Scholastica’s Catholic primary school in Burwood when he indecently touched the students on several occasions in the late 1990s.
Former school principal Peter Bartley on Tuesday. Credit: Eddie Jim
During a hearing in the County Court on Tuesday, Bartley pleaded guilty to three counts of committing an indecent act with a child under 16. He was given a two-year suspended sentence.
The court heard that Bartley called two of the students to his desk during class on several occasions, touching their genitals over their clothing while telling them to look into his eyes.
One of the victims, who ended up changing schools before the end of the school year, reported being touched by Bartley in the genital area up to 10 times.
The court heard the abuse had a profound impact on the girl, who became withdrawn and began wetting herself.
Court documents released to the media detail another incident in which Bartley began stroking the thigh of one of the students after making her sit at the back of the classroom as punishment for misbehaving.
“I trusted you. Why did you do that?” the former principal told the student at the time. “If there was one student to trust it would be you.”
Police were contacted in 1999 after two of the girls reported the incidents to their family. However, the court heard officers told education authorities that they would not be pressing charges against Bartley due to a lack of evidence.
The family of a third victim also contacted police with similar allegations after their daughter left the school, but when an officer visited the girl to get information she went into shock and did not want to talk about the incident.
When confronted by the school, Bartley told the principal he had “brushed down” one of the students after noticing she had something on her dress. The court heard he was asked to leave the school but returned a short time later.
Bartley continued working as a teacher and educator for more than two decades after the assaults, holding deputy principal and principal roles in two other schools, including Trinity Catholic School in Richmond.
He was stood down as principal of Trinity Catholic School in 2020 after a former classmate of the three victims realised he was still working as a teacher and contacted the Catholic Education Office about the incidents.
Police later contacted the father of the third victim, who called his daughter to ask about Bartley. The woman began sobbing at the mention of Bartley’s name and said her former teacher had destroyed her life.
Bartley was stood down from his role as principal of Trinity Catholic School in 2020. Credit: Eddie Jim
She made a formal statement to the police on May 19, 2020, and Bartley was arrested and charged less than two weeks later.
The court heard Bartley had been unable to work as a teacher and educator since the offences resurfaced. He had also been shunned by his church community and banned from attending his son’s football games.
Bartley’s lawyer, Theo Kassimatis, said the former principal had not committed any other offences since the assaults were reported to the police and had devoted his career to student wellbeing roles.
The roles included organising training sessions for staff on how to protect student safety, and running programs for children affected by trauma.
Judge Patricia Riddell said Bartley’s offending constituted a gross breach of trust that had likely damaged the identity, self-confidence and capacity to trust of his victims.
“They were each vulnerable to the behaviour of a trusted adult. Your offending was brazen, at times occurring in the presence of other students in the classroom. It was repetitive,” she said.
However, Riddell noted Bartley was otherwise of good character and said the courage the students had shown reporting the incidents to their families had been the “circuit breaker” that had put an end to the abuse.
“You have not re-offended and have continuously taught children without incident,” she said. “In my view, your prospects of rehabilitation are extremely good.”
Bartley, who has since gained employment in retail and is planning to study a law degree, will be registered as a serious sex offender and will need to comply with reporting obligations for the rest of his life.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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