A student from Sydney’s prestigious Scots College charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl has been suspended from the school and is living under bail conditions resembling house arrest, his lawyer says.
Judge Sue Duncombe on Tuesday refused an application by the 14-year-old boy to access YouTube and the PlayStation network after prosecutors raised concerns that he could contact his alleged victim, key witnesses in the criminal investigation, or the boys he has been charged alongside.
The boy was arrested last month along with two other Scots College students, aged 13 and 14, and charged with the aggravated sexual assault of the girl in a Bondi Junction alleyway on July 22.
His lawyer, Kent Park, told the Surry Hills Children’s Court that the boy had been suspended from school and was home at all times under what he said was “essentially house arrest”.
Park said the boy, whose home had been visited by police conducting bail compliance checks several times since his arrest, wanted to access YouTube for both educational and recreational viewing.
Duncombe said while she accepted that the boy’s bail conditions meant his liberty was restricted, the measures were a consequence of the serious charges. She said it was “wrong to open the door so soon” to social media use for the boy. The educational benefit of YouTube videos would be minimal compared with the boys ongoing schooling, Duncombe said.
The boys’ bail conditions prohibit them from leaving their homes between 6pm and 6am unless in the company of their parents, being in each other’s company outside of school hours, entering Bondi Junction, using social media, and contacting the alleged victim. The boys cannot be legally identified.
Interim apprehended violence orders protecting the alleged victim prohibit the boys from going within 200 metres of her.
Scots College, which is Sydney’s most expensive private educator with annual Year 12 fees exceeding $50,000, has been criticised by parents who say the school has a longstanding culture dismissive of women. Several parents have called for the college’s principal, Dr Ian Lambert, to resign over the school’s handling of the charges.
Writing for this masthead last month, sexual consent activist and Teach Us Consent founder and chief executive Chanel Contos said Lambert had ignored her attempts to share concerning testimonies from young women allegedly assaulted by former Scots students.
The college has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the boys’ enrolment status, their future at the school, and what measures were being implemented at the Bellevue Hill campus in response to the charges. The college declined to answer questions related to the boys’ enrolment status on Tuesday.
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