A former teacher at one of Perth's most prestigious girls' schools has been jailed for 10 years for sexually abusing five students in the 1980s.
Jay Riordan Walsh, 75, a former drama teacher at Penrhos College, was found guilty after a District Court trial of 20 child sex offences against the five victims, who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.
Walsh was in his 30s when he carried out the assaults.
The abuse took place at various locations including in his car, in a motel room and on the school grounds.
He groomed all of his victims, taking the virginity of two of the girls.
Shame, trauma, self-loathing
Those two women today read their victim impact statements to the court, fighting back tears as they detailed the impact the abuse had on their lives.
One said the abuse she suffered during the last 18 months of her schooling had invaded all aspects of her life.
She said that included feelings of shame, isolation and self-loathing.
"I return all of this shame to Jay Riordan Walsh, the criminal who preyed on me when I was a young vulnerable girl," the woman told the court.
The second woman said the abuse had arrested her development forever, describing it as the catalyst for the trauma she had suffered.
She also said she had previously believed she had made "a good person do a bad thing".
"I am restoring my integrity … I have taken back the power that he stole from me" she said.
"I am rescuing the teenage girl I was before he abused me."
Victim seeking 'positive change'
Speaking outside the court, one of the victims who read her victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing welcomed the 10-year jail term.
"I am surprised, I am glad. I think that is a long sentence for these sorts of things," she said.
The woman said she felt an enormous burden had been lifted from her.
"I do feel like 15-year-old me has been rescued and I hope that other victims feel the same way," she said.
She said she hoped the outcome would encourage other abuse victims to come forward.
"Steel yourself, it isn't easy, but it's well worth it. Get support, have support, I couldn't have done it without people who love me and without mental health support, but you should come forward," she said.
"I wanted to be a part of positive change, I wanted to make a difference in a good way and in that sense, I feel like it was worth it, even though for me, a lot of what I've been through in life I can't take back.
"But I do hope I've stopped other people from being abused and that other people who have been abused will use this as a way to build up their confidence to talk to police."
Public gallery packed
The courtroom was packed with former Penrhos College students, and the current principal, Kalea Haran, was also in the public gallery.
Walsh's lawyer Judith Fordham submitted her client should receive a suspended jail term because of his extremely poor health, which meant he only had a life expectancy of a few years.
She told the court he had leukaemia as well as another serious condition that meant he sometimes needed urgent medication that he currently carried with him at all times to prevent death.
Ms Fordham said her client would not be able to have that medication with him in jail, and prison authorities did not have the capacity to meet Walsh's chronic medical needs.
Judge Gary Massey accepted that Walsh was in very poor health, but said prison authorities had indicated he would be kept in the infirmary at Casuarina Prison, where his conditions would be managed.
He said the offences were too serious for anything other than an immediate jail term.
Judge Massey sentenced Walsh to 10 years in jail.
The former teacher will have to serve eight years behind bars before he can be released, at which time he will be 83 years old.
'We are sorry': Penrhos principal
Speaking outside court, Ms Haran paid tribute to the bravery of the women who Walsh abused as teenagers.
"We acknowledge and honour the immense courage these alumni displayed in coming forward and seeking justice for what was done," she said.
"What took place was wrong and should never have been able to happen.
"Regrettably it did and for that we are sorry."
Ms Haran said Penrhos was "a different institution now, with rigorous processes and child safety measures in place to prevent such events from ever happening again".
