One of the women who the District Court has found was sexually abused by her teacher at a prestigious Perth girls' school has urged any other possible victims to come forward, saying they "need to rescue each other" from what happened to them.
The woman, who cannot be identified, was one of five students at Penrhos College in Como who alleged she was sexually abused by drama teacher Jay Walsh in the 1980s.
Walsh stood trial in the District Court over the past two weeks, and late yesterday, a District Court jury found him guilty of 20 of the 23 child sex charges he was facing.
The verdicts meant it could also be reported that his former colleague at the school and friend, Harry Schmitz, was cleared of allegations he sexually abused a further two students in the 1980s.
The two men were charged together in 2020 but ended up facing separate trials.
Schmitz himself faced two completely separate trials over the two women he was alleged to have abused, but the details of both cases were suppressed until the completion of Walsh's one and only trial for abusing five students.
'Had to' come forward: victim
One of Walsh's victims was in court for the entire trial and for the verdicts, and afterward described how difficult it was for her to come forward.
"Because I considered the impact on his family as well as mine, and as well as the whole community.
"I just felt like [it] was the thing I had to do for everybody."
But she said the guilty verdicts gave her great relief, saying they were something anybody else who may have been abused should consider.
"It's not easy. It's not a kind, gentle system, but it's worth it and we need to rescue each other from what happened to us back then."
Walsh was released on bail because of what was described as his "parlous" health, but Judge Gary Massey warned he should not take that as an indication of any sentence he may receive, because the offences were "extremely serious".
He is due to face another hearing next month.
Principal acknowledges women's courage
In an email sent to the school community last night following Walsh's conviction, Penrhos principal Kalea Haran said she was deeply saddened by the experience of the victims, both at the time of the offences and throughout the recent court proceedings.
"Their courage and bravery in coming forward must be respected and admired," Ms Haran said.
"We also acknowledge what a challenging and upsetting time this has been for those alumni involved in the court cases — either directly or indirectly."
Ms Haran noted the allegations against the two men had led to the school conducting an in-depth review of all its current child safe policies, procedures and protocols.
"It has led to a focus to ensure Penrhos College becomes a benchmark and a model for best practice in child abuse prevention and reporting programs." the email said.
Ms Haran said the school's leadership team planned to meet groups of its alumni "to discuss how we can move forward together", adding that she welcomed any feedback or suggestions.
