Criminal Law

Warning: this content discusses sexual offending and abuse.

On 13 June, three Scots College students were arrested and charged with sexual assault and sexual touching offences. The students are accused of assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Bondi Junction. Two of the students are 14 years old, and one is 13 years old.

The three boys were initially released on strict bail conditions and faced children’s court for the first time on Tuesday 25 August.

Less than a week later, three boys, all 17 years old, were arrested and charged with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl. Two of these boys were confirmed to be students at a private Catholic school, St Gregory’s College.

These two independent incidents, which came to public attention less than seven days apart, have attracted significant attention. However, the gravity of such offences reignites questions about how culture can play a role in sexual offending.

Only days after the alleged Bondi Junction assault, a Scots College old boy allegedly sent, then later deleted, messages to an old boys group chat. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the old boy stated the alleged victim was a “willing participant”, and said the alleged attack being categorised as a rape was “fake news”. In the same report, it was noted that numerous Scots parents believed the views held by old boys represented “a long-standing culture at the school that is dismissive of women”.

The Scots Old Boys Union did not respond to our request for comment regarding the alleged attack, or their measures to prevent and respond to harassment or violence.

In 2021, former Kambala student Chanel Contos started an online petition where hundreds of women testified that they were sexually assaulted by male peers. Many testimonies contained allegations against multiple Sydney all-boys private schools.

Following the recent Scots accusations, Contos wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald:

“Sexual assault occurs when the perpetrators’ sense of entitlement to another’s body outweighs their empathy towards that person. Entitlement and empathy are mostly socialised traits.”

Contos suggests that the all-male environment may impact their socialisation.

A bigger picture

While it is not a new phenomenon that culture matters when addressing sexual violence, studies show an upward trend in juvenile offending.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) was published in April 2023. It revealed harrowing statistics, one of which was that:

“In contemporary Australia, it is more common for child sexual abuse to be inflicted by an adolescent than an adult.”

While child sexual abuse by adult offenders is still a major issue, this change is significant socially and in the law.

In the full report, the researchers note a “tendency to ignore juvenile perpetrators” in discussions of child sexual abuse. They have stated the rising trend “has not been sufficiently emphasised”.

The report stated the need for further research into the area, but it also provided some reasons why this change may be occurring:

Popular media: the sexualisation of adolescence in popular media can increase expectations in relation to sexual interactions. This contributes to peer pressure and the expectation to engage in sexual acts. These findings cited Contos’s indications through her platform, Teach Us Consent. The report also noted there may be less parental supervision in high-risk settings like gatherings and parties.

Pornography: access to pornography has increased with internet access. Australian research by Crabbe, Flood and Adams (2024) found that fewer than 1 in 10 boys had viewed pornography by age 11, but this rose sharply to 25.2% by age 12 and 38.8% by age 13, with the average age of first exposure at 13.2 years. In particular, violent pornography can distort perceptions of sex through exposure to violent sexual scripts.

The ACMS similarly suggested that the #MeToo movement and high-profile assault cases may have contributed to greater understanding of harmful sexual behaviours, leading to more identification.

Legal pathways

While the recent media cases are not necessarily examples of institutional child abuse, they do provoke discussion on institutional abuse cases where the offender is a youth offender.

In the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, findings demonstrated that institutions were failing to protect children from other children displaying harmful sexual behaviours. We have written previously about the Royal Commission’s broader findings.

The Commission found a lack of institutional policies and procedures for complaints, little therapeutic intervention or assessment, poor communication with guardians, and that victims were excluded from institutional environments.

However, importantly for survivors, institutional abuse claims can be made when the perpetrator of the abuse was another child.

Institutional child-on-child abuse has been documented previously in New South Wales detention centres. Some centres were suggested to have a culture of violence, using children to regulate the conduct of other children.

At the Ashley Youth Detention Centre in Tasmania, multiple accounts of alleged harmful sexual behaviours between detainees were recorded, especially to control or frighten other detainees. We have reported separately on the charges arising from Ashley.

The Royal Commission also revealed alleged abuse perpetrated by other detainees at Parramatta Training School for Girls.

Similarly, it presented findings of allegations of problematic and harmful sexual behaviours between students at schools, including The King’s School Parramatta, Trinity Grammar School Summer Hill and St Ignatius’ College Riverview.

To have a claim, survivors have to prove that they faced abuse by another child in an institution. Abuse claims no longer require proof of a failure of a system. This means that if you experienced child-on-child abuse in an institution, you may have an institutional child abuse claim.

If you believe you may have an institutional child abuse claim involving The Scots College or another institution, or want to know more, read about legal and redress options here.

This page does not make any findings or imply any fault by any party, including The Scots College, St Gregory’s College or any individual named or referenced. It provides general information to help people understand their options.