3 months ago
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Four former students of a prestigious regional private school have been formally cautioned by Victoria Police over a series of “strappings” against younger schoolmates.
The cautions were issued after a series of assaults at Ballarat Grammar School between 2023 and 2024 were investigated, police confirmed on Wednesday.
Ballarat Grammar School.Credit: Joe Armao
The Anglican school has been in crisis since a culture of abuse and hazing of younger students – dating back decades – was first uncovered in February.
Following the initial allegations with up to 12 alleged victims involved, 10 senior boarders at the school were sent home. Victoria Police were then called in over claims junior students – some as young as 12 – had been assaulted by older students as part of a hazing culture that included strappings.
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The culture developed from the practice of senior students imposing unofficial punishments on junior schoolmates by hitting them with leather straps, and became a broader pattern of dominance and abuse by older boys in the school’s boarding houses.
Other former students allege their experiences included having toothpaste applied to their genitals and being burned by older students.
The school was banned from accepting new boarders in October, on the orders of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, until the authority is satisfied that the boarding houses meet child safety standards.
The school has installed CCTV cameras in its residential areas and hired overnight private security guards to protect the younger children as they sleep.
An undisclosed number of students have been expelled from Ballarat Grammar over the strapping scandal, but it is unclear if any of the four teenagers cautioned by Victoria Police are still at the school.
“Ballarat Grammar has a policy of not disclosing details of individuals, this is in line with Australian Privacy Principles,” a school spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Victoria Police said they had concluded their inquiries at the school.
“Ballarat Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Team detectives have completed their investigation into several assaults which occurred at a school in Wendouree between 2023 and 2024,” a police spokesperson said.
“Four teenage boys have been interviewed in relation to the matter and were cautioned by police.
“The investigation is complete.”
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The cautions come as Ballarat Grammar settled another legal action brought against it by a former student earlier this month, with a confidential payout agreed.
The plaintiff said he suffered five years of abuse and “traumatic initiations” at the school, and claimed that he and other junior boarders were forced to watch pornography before being examined by the older boys to see if they had erections. He said the experiences left him psychologically damaged and addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Lawyers for the man, who asked that his name not be published, said their client boarded at Ballarat Grammar for five years in the 2000s and was “frequently subjected to bullying and harassment which included physical and sexual abuse, perpetrated by other students resident of the boarding house”.
The lawyers say they are now preparing cases for four other former students who allege they were victims of the strapping culture at the school.
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