Amanda Gearing ‘s story misrepresents everything at Churchie.

Old Boys protest at the scapegoating of Dr Roberts, do not endorse sexual abuse or want to “turn back the clock.”
They have shown the School Council did not investigate the claims of abuse or talk to those including former Council chairmen who were there at the time.

There were two complaints made in the Roberts era, against Leslie and Wippell. He acted appropriately and with the full authority of Council and Archbishop. In the 1960s police would not have listened to uncorroborated complaints. It is fatuous to say Roberts should have gone to police, and morally bankrupt to condemn him for his proper actions.

The Hoskins crimes were not known or discovered until 2002. Whitehouse as rowing coach committed no offences against boys at the school. He was charged later for homosexual activities, then illegal, not child abuse.

The parents of the Leslie case victim were content that Leslie left to work for a member of the school council with the approval of the archbishop. We have a letter confirming this.

The demand for removing the name originated from and was organised by a former Roberts era student who had been convicted for murder as a life insurance claim fraud. He later attempted an international extortion, falsely claiming sexual abuse. The court documents indicate he faked a suicide and invented his claim of abuse by Wippell. He lied to the Royal Commission.

Old Boys have done the only comprehensive investigation of the facts of the case. They have proved that both the School and Aspinall failed in their duty to conduct due diligence into the complaints and allegations. They were prepared to trash the reputation of a fine headmaster, although warned not to.

The fact is the school and the church have been conned , manipulated by a criminal into a knee-jerk reaction to protect the archbishop’s reputation.

There was no vitriolic attack on Aspinall. He refused to accept the evidence put to him over many months. The 23 page letter simply set out the history of negotiations

Amanda Gearing states her interest in this matter is that a relative of hers is a survivor of child sexual abuse. She has made it clear elsewhere that it was her husband who was abused when young, yet strangely he arranged for the perpetrator priest to marry them!

Why is she railing against Churchie when her focus should be directed to and at the Anglican Church? With full knowledge of the abuse and without giving notice to Churchie, the Brisbane Diocese posted the perpetrator to the school as a Chaplain instead of taking action against him. As it happens, he did not offend against the school's boys, and the School dismissed him the moment it found out about his history. An earlier case of the School being conned!

Fifty years on and the clowns are rejoicing
Genuflecting to the gods of publicity
Trashing the name of the dead with no voices
A sacrificial lamb to expediency

False judgements made by hollow men
Whose spines are very weak
To judge the past on present terms
And let no others speak

Untested allegations
Without questions seems the rule
A travesty of justice
That could only come from fools

Blinded by the need to be politically correct
Its hard to remember just who to protect
The name of the school above all other things
Eagles can’t soar with badly clipped wings

The Church and its soiled vestments
Have much to answer for
Complicit and deluded
They are not above the law

It ill behoves a sullied Church
To play Pontius Pilate now
Take out that blinding plank of wood
Perhaps renew your vow

An Ode to Harry continued

They cannot need reminding
Of shortcomings plain to all
Forgiveness is a two way street
From grace there’s been a fall

They try to wash and wring their hands
And simply pass the blame
Its not about the truth and facts
Its almost like a game.

When reason fails to win the day
A scapegoat must be found
To keep the baying hounds at bay
On very slippery ground

No one condones the goings on
In the Church and at the school
But truth and facts cannot be ignored
Where fairness is to rule

Decisions taken at the time
In fact were overruled
And now its sought to lay the blame
By the controllers of the school

Perhaps it’s all a dream gone wrong
When I awake at last
I’ll find they have fixed the corner stone
Respected values past

Even corner stones will turn to dust
While memories dim and fade
But the values he inspired in us
Are the legacy he made

We respected feared admired him
Still now and even then
With vision and a passion
He made schoolboys into men

The party nears the ending
For the class of sixty three
May they never give in to spineless fools
And mediocrity

Whatever is the outcome
Of this squalid sordid mess
We will still respect old Boofhead
Lie in peace and stay at rest