9News can reveal Year 9 students at Assumption College in Kilmore were victims of the disturbing incident this morning, where an unknown person entered an online Zoom class and showed “two minutes of very graphic sexual material”.
A letter from Principal Kate Fogarty, obtained by 9News, said the person was able to access the class due to the link being forwarded to them from a school email account.
“But we are still determining if or how the email account may have been hacked,” Ms Fogarty said.
“The Assumption student whose name was associated with the footage was in no way responsible for this incident and is completely innocent in this matter, as are the teacher and the other members of the class, who were so egregiously ambushed.”
Victorian students have been learning online since lockdown restrictions were implemented in the state.
The school will now require students to log in one-by-one into their classes and to turn on their cameras to verify it is them in the class.
Students in the class have been offered counseling following the incident.
“I can only apologise to our families that this has occurred,” Ms Fogarty said.
“It is certainly something that we have been aware of happening elsewhere, and we are devastated that it has happened here.”
The principal thanked the “quick work” of staff who swiftly moved to identify and close the video and then worked to track down what had occurred.
