Child protection advocates have condemned Andrew Bolt’s use of the phrase “hit on” to describe the sexual grooming of a year 9 school boy by his athletics coach, saying the language was inappropriate and minimised the seriousness of the offence.

In a segment on his Sky News show on Tuesday, Bolt attacked the accuracy of a Four Corners report on St Kevin’s college that revealed the headmaster had written a character reference for the school’s athletics coach after he was convicted of grooming the student. The headmaster, Stephen Russell, resigned on Wednesday.

Bolt invited Sydney Institute director Gerard Henderson on the Bolt Report on Tuesday night and the two were highly critical of Four Corners’ characterisation of the offending and the response of the school.

Bolt repeatedly said the boy was “hit on” by the coach and there was “no sex”.

“That headmaster that [reporter Louise Milligan] mentioned, who gave a character reference for a man who was an ex-teacher, who hit on a boy at that school – no sex occurred – hit on the boy, later jailed for grooming,” Bolt said.

“The headmaster gave a character reference, and he’s since been absolutely pilloried on the ABC radio today.”

The president of the Blue Knot Foundation, Dr Cathy Kezelman, said it was dangerous to minimise the crime of grooming.

“Sadly some commentators irresponsibly perpetuate ignorant and dangerous myths minimising the crime of grooming and the impact on child victims of predatory behaviour,” Kezelman told Guardian Australia.

The executive director of services for Act for Kids, Dr Katrina Lines, said Bolt’s language was inappropriate and could not be condoned.

“Children can’t be hit on!” Lines said.

“Adults are in a position of authority and trust with a child, and they betray that trust by acting inappropriately, that is the very definition of sexual grooming.

“There is no consensual social situation in which it would be OK for an adult to ‘hit on’ a child. The adult was grooming the child and building an emotional connection so they could do what they wanted to him.

“By downplaying what really happened, we are only going to further damage and cause trauma to those that have experienced this kind of inappropriate behaviour. At Act for Kids, we stand up for the rights of all children and cannot condone the comments made by Andrew Bolt.”

The victim, Paris Street, told Milligan he was repeatedly exposed to offensive comments by former coach Peter Kehoe, who was convicted in 2015 for grooming.

According to the ABC, when Kehoe was coaching Street he sent him messages via Facebook, which eventually escalated to the coach taking Street to his house and inviting him into his bed.

Kehoe told Street about having an erection and asked him if he knew what pre-cum was, Street told Four Corners.

“‘Then he asked me if I know what pre-cum is, and then I said, ‘no’. Then he said, ‘it’s the premature stages of ejaculation’. Then he said, ‘you can lick it off whenever you like’,” Street said.

The program also revealed the school’s dean of sport, Luke Travers, had provided a character reference before the trial.

Bolt asked Henderson: “How terrible was [the school’s handling of the case] really?” Henderson replied: “Not at all.”

Andrew Bolt on St Kevin's revelations by @Milliganreports



He just hit on him

There was NO SEX

How terrible was giving a character reference really



Henderson:



NOT AT ALL

A terrible pile on



Where is the compassion for the child?#Auspol #BoycottMurdoch #paedophileapologist pic.twitter.com/9Ms4d1UW6z — 💧 Sleeping Giants Oz 📣 (@slpng_giants_oz) February 18, 2020

Henderson said the program was “within the ABC tradition of attacking mainly Catholic institutions sometimes Christian institutions”, and the story was a “a gross exaggeration”.

Like most Australians, I never watch @SkyNewsAust after dark, but I hear convicted child sex offender defender Andrew Bolt with Gerard Henderson tonight said Kehoe only “hit on” #StKevins student Paris Street. Really, Paul Whittaker? You OK with this? As a parent & old colleague? — Louise Milligan (@Milliganreports) February 18, 2020

Henderson said it was very common in the law to give references for sentencing. “All the headmaster did was say that prior to this offending the former teacher hadn’t had any complaints,” Henderson said.

On Wednesday Bolt responded to the criticism of his remarks by writing on his blog that he had also said Kehoe had “groomed” the student.

“I said Kehoe ‘groomed’ the student, and also ‘hit on’ him,” Bolt said. “Is that not true?

“It seems to me that Milligan is trying to whip up a Twitter mob with a partial and unbalanced account – exactly the kind of reporting I last night went on to criticise.

“I also said he’d been convicted, and at no stage did I – or would I – defend what he had done or criticise the sentence he received,” Bolt said.

“What I said was that Milligan had been unfair to the principal of St Kevins and mischaracterised what he’d done by providing what she described as a ‘character reference’ to the court that (rightly) convicted Kehoe.

“That word ‘only’ is an out and out falsehood, and it says something about Milligan that she uses it without bothering to check segment she criticises.”

The ABC voiced its support for Milligan on Wednesday.

“Louise Milligan is a fine investigative journalist and the quality of her award-winning work speaks for itself,” a spokeswoman said.

A word in support of @Milliganreports, one of the finest journalists at @abcnews. Tenacious, courageous and passionate about giving the voiceless a say. Her reporting improves our society. I'm very proud she's on the team. Watch her @4corners program, make up your own mind. https://t.co/O4BlJk9GkI — Gaven Morris (@gavmorris) February 19, 2020





Sky News has been approached for comment.