Five families whose children were sexually assaulted by a teacher at a
Queensland primary school have settled out of court with the Catholic
church.
The settlements were announced in a joint statement by
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and the
families' law firm Slater & Gordon.
Gerard Vincent Byrnes, 61, pleaded guilty in April to 33
counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12, 10 counts of rape and
one of maintaining a sexual relationship with a student.
In October, he was jailed for 10 years for his crimes against 13 young girls.
The abuse happened while Byrnes was the child protection
officer at a Toowoomba school from January 2007 to November 2008, when
the girls were aged nine and 10.
The Queensland government had lodged an appeal against
the sentence, arguing it fails to reflect the gravity of the offences
and is not a sufficient deterrent.
In announcing the five settlements, Toowoomba Bishop Rev William Morris again offered his apologies to the victims.
"I am committed to ensuring that our apology is supported by action," he said in the statement.
"The Diocese sought to make the compensation process as uncomplicated as possible for the victims' families."
He said the settlement was another step on their long journey of healing.
Lawyer Damian Scattini said the families were relieved
their cases had been settled without the added trauma of court
proceedings.
"They are also grateful the church has this week made
serious and genuine efforts to do the right thing after the Catholic
education system failed to heed the initial warnings about this
teacher," he said.
The settlements were reached this week after two days of mediation talks, conducted by former High Court judge Ian Callinan QC.
The compensation amounts are confidential.
The law firm will deal with a further three cases in the new year.
SIC: SMH/AUS
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