Three staff at St Kevin's College in Melbourne have left the top Catholic school, which is under pressure over its handling of sexual misconduct allegations.

Luke Travers, the school's dean of sports, was stood down on Wednesday after the ABC's Four Corners revealed he gave an employment reference and character evidence for convicted child sex offender Peter Kehoe.

In a letter to parents on Saturday, acting principal John Crowley said Mr Travers' employment had come to an end, as well as that of two other teachers.

Mr Crowley did not give a reason as to why the three staff members had left the school but said more information would be provided in the coming days.

Mr Crowley replaced headmaster Stephen Russell after he resigned earlier this week.

In 2015, Mr Russell wrote a character reference for former coach Kehoe, which was given to the magistrate after Kehoe's conviction for grooming a St Kevin's student, but did not support the victim during the court process.

John Crowley has replaced Stephen Russell (pictured) as headmaster. ( St Kevin's College )

In a letter on Wednesday, Mr Russell said that to prioritise the wellbeing of the school and students in the current situation, his best option was to resign.

"In my time at St Kevin's I have always tried to put the school before self and the students' wellbeing at the very top of my list of priorities. I believe the current situation means that the best way to achieve this is to resign," Mr Russell's letter said.

The deputy principal of the school, Janet Canny, was last week also asked by the school's governing body to step aside pending an investigation into allegations made in a federal court proceeding that she mishandled concerns about inappropriate sexual conduct by another teacher towards a student.

'I hope it represents a shift in attitudes'

Kehoe was sentenced to a community corrections order and placed on the sex offenders register for eight years for grooming student Paris Street.

He had been a St Kevin's Old Boy who trained students at the school for 40 years.

In 2013, Kehoe left the school but remained a volunteer with the St Kevin's Amateur Athletics Club, which trained on school grounds.

He was Mr Street's running coach when he groomed the then-Year 9 student.

An emotional Mr Street told Four Corners the ordeal had been "exhausting and debilitating" and that the resignation was the right decision.

"I hope it represents a shift in attitudes," he said.

"I am relieved to hear that Stephen Russell has resigned. I hope to now be able to begin to close this chapter of my life so that I can move forward. I am so grateful for the support I have received from across the country."

"I think it sends a strong message to the boys and families that they are prioritising child safety."

Incoming headmaster has confronted historical abuse issues before

Mr Crowley, previously principal of St Patrick's College in Ballarat, has taken over the role of acting headmaster at St Kevin's.

John Crowley has been appointed acting principal of St Kevin's College. ( Supplied: St Patrick's College )

Mr Crowley gained publicity in 2019 when he removed George Pell's name from a wing of classrooms at St Patrick's College, after Pell's conviction for child sex offences became public.

The school was the first in Victoria to sign on to a child protection curriculum that explicitly teaches children how to recognise child abuse.

Mr Crowley also led a program of reform at the school, whereby former students who became paedophile priests, like Gerald Ridsdale and Bob Claffey, were publicly stripped of their honours.

He went on to give his own evidence at the child sexual abuse royal commission in 2017, as part of a panel on Catholic education, and later delivered an apology to former students for the trauma they endured at the school.

St Patrick's deputy principal Stephen Hill will take over from Mr Crowley as headmaster in Ballarat.

Editor's note: On Tuesday April 7, 2020, the High Court in a unanimous decision upheld Cardinal Pell's appeal and quashed his convictions on all five charges.