A STAGGERING 75 cases of alleged child sexual abuse, inappropriate touching and online grooming by teachers and other school staff were identified by the Education Department - in just four years.

Of the cases, 21 involved teachers having sex with their students.

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The Sunday Mail has conducted a full analysis of the Debelle report, including previously unreported sections showing that the 75 cases occurred between 2009 and 2012, with a further 20 cases also identified involving teachers and staff at non-government schools.

The cases differ in their degree of seriousness.

Eleven of the cases were not reported to the police. In most of those cases, this is because there was insufficient evidence to launch an investigation or because the complaints had no basis in fact.

READ THE FULL DEBELLE INQUIRY REPORT

In one case, a complaint was investigated by the Teachers Registration Board, not the police, because the complainant asked the Education Department not to get the police involved.

Of the 64 cases investigated by police, 28 were filed by police for no further action because of insufficient evidence and 30 resulted in charges being laid. In six cases, charges have not yet been laid because police are still investigating.

The cases in which charges were laid are crucial because - as demonstrated by the case of the rape of a young girl at a western suburbs school by the after-school care director - the department has had no protocols in place to advise parents about such cases in their children's schools.

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In his report, royal commissioner Bruce Debelle breaks down the cases into the following four categories:

IMPROPER TOUCHING: "There are different levels of seriousness," he writes. "It might be a very brief touching of a clothed child such as touching a female student's breast or touching a female student on the stomach. More serious offending in this category would include touching the genitals or genital area of a clothed child. In some cases the touching may be accidental, in others deliberate."

INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP: This involves no physical contact. "An example is the exchange by electronic means of inappropriate messages between a teacher and a student. A teacher may engage in a long exchange through emails or on Facebook or by telephone, sending messages of an overtly familiar or flirtatious kind. In some cases such an exchange might constitute the grooming of a child for some kind of later sexual activity."

SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS: "There were 21 instances where it was alleged that a teacher had engaged in a relationship with a secondary student involving sexual contact. In two instances a middle-aged male teacher had had a sexual relationship with a female student he was teaching.

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There were three instances of female teachers having sexual relationships with male students. There was one instance where a female teacher had had a relationship with a female student. There were five instances where it was alleged that a male teacher had sexual contact with a male student."

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY: "Eight matters involved (teachers or other staff) being in possession of child pornography. Most of the allegations stemmed from police investigation of `chat rooms' and internet sites notorious for child pornography. In one instance child pornography was discovered while a school computer was being repaired."

The Debelle report also examined the age of the victims in each of the 75 cases. For some unexplained reason the department did not know the age of the victims in seven of the cases. Of the remaining 68 matters, 38 involved students aged 14 or over and 30 involved students under 14.

david.penberthy@news.com.au

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