Bracks Watch

Bracks Witchhunt Goes Wrong

Slattsnews has a brilliant post on the way in which the witchhunt for sexually abusive teachers has punished a man who at twenty was picked up for an offense that while serious, does not show him to be in any way a risk to his students.

After a series of cases involving teachers sexually abusing students, the Victorian Government introduced mandatory police checks of serving teachers.

Any convictions of sex with a minor and the chalky was for the road. It was a popular move, but lacking scope for discretion, it was bound to eventually lead to injustice . . .

The young couple did not have sexual intercourse but he admitted that he had fondled the girl’s breasts.

He was reported to police and under advice pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a minor. He has not attempted to hide the matter and as a teacher, now in his 30s, has always behaved in an exemplary fashion.

He was suspended from his job at Orbost Secondary College in January after criminal record checks picked up the 1992 offence. A month later he resigned, citing stress on his family . . .

Referring to the teacher’s starring role with the bat in the town’s cricket final at the weekend, [Orbost Secondary College Principal] Mr Brazier described what in some quarters is referred to as a “man’s man'’.

If anything is going to get up the nose of Kosky and crusading femimarxists in the Education Department it is the notion of popular masculine types in the teaching profession.

Sinister results will always surface when authorities embrace sexist bigotry, political correctness and retrospective morality.

One can only hope that State Premier and former teacher Steve Bracks can for once in his miserable, illiterate existence show a little backbone and over-rule this stupid, malicious decision.

But I suspect that Bracks the bore would find such action, to use his favourite word, “inappropriate". - Slattsnews

Now, I am not as tolerant as Slatts of the actions which occured back in 1992, after all, the bloke was an adult and fondling the breasts of a girl five years younger than yourself is grossly indecent behaviour at the time. That said, a decade has passed and the teacher in question has proven himself, under scrutiny, to have reformed himself. Part of us all wants to scream that you can't get away with these things, but the other half recognises that this man has changed, and deserves the second chance Bracks government legislation has taken away.

posted by JP @ 10:27 PM