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Prestigious St John’s College in Johannesburg has revealed that an independent probe has found one of its former teachers guilty of perpetrating sexual assault against past pupils.
Stuart West, executive headmaster at the Houghton-based boarding school for boys, confirmed in a letter authored on Monday that the teacher, who could not be named for legal reasons, taught in the preparatory school for eight years before resigning in 2014 to hold a position at another school.
The letter, which City Press has seen, disclosed that the teacher served in various roles during his tenure at St John’s.
READ: Racist St John’s College teacher fired with immediate effect
West said that the school became aware of the allegations last month after one of the victims, now an adult, disclosed the alleged sexual assault to his parents:
West added that the allegations were reported to the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit of the SAPS on Monday morning.
“St John’s has exercised its duty as a school and reported the teacher to the South African Council of Educators (SACE) and the Anglican Safe Church Unit through the Bishop of Johannesburg. The former teacher’s current employer has also been informed. The council of St John’s College and the Bishop of Johannesburg have been fully briefed on the investigation and findings.”
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He said the school respected the courage of survivors to speak out about their ordeals.
“We will do everything humanly possible to help rid our schools of the scourge of sexual predators. We trust that the criminal justice system will move swiftly and firmly to investigate all the allegations of sexual assault against this particular teacher.”
West further alluded that the school was in the process of updating its policies to prioritise the safety of all students in its care.
“If any member of our community lives with the awful secret of sexual or other abuse experienced at the school, I encourage you to please report this information to us via safeguard@stjohnscollege.co.za or by using the Guardian anonymous reporting app.”
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We take our duty of care to our students extremely seriously.”
