Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1986-2004 · 18 years · show in timeline

Adelaide 1986 to 2003: A Catholic special school hired a man with several sex-offence convictions as bus driver for intellectually disabled children without any check

St Ann's Special School in Adelaide was a Catholic school for 50 to 60 children and young people with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities, many of whom could barely communicate. The principal hired Brian Perkins as bus driver without the required procedures and without a police check; Perkins had three convictions for sexual offences, the first in 1956 for abduction of a child. He drove the children unsupervised and was also alone with them in the woodwork shed. When allegations arose in 1991, the school leadership informed neither the school board nor the education office; the Royal Commission finds failings by the Church, but also serious police failings. Perkins pleaded guilty in 2003 to five offences against three students. The archdiocese paid 2.3 million dollars to families.

Period
1986-2004 (18 years)
Country
Australia
Institutions
St Ann's Special School
Catholic Special Schools Incorporated
Catholic Education Office Adelaide
Archdiocese of Adelaide
Category
Sexual abuse, Cover-up
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?
Persons
Brian Perkins (school bus driver, previously convicted of sexual offences, pleaded guilty in 2003)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. The school took children with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities; many could barely communicate. Brian Perkins had been convicted in 1956 of abducting a child and in 1968 and 1974 of carnal knowledge or attempted carnal knowledge. He applied to be the bus driver who would take the children to and from school each day unsupervised.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 4
    „The school catered for students with intellectual disabilities ranging from a moderate to profound level of severity. Many of the children enrolled at the school had limited communication abilities.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 4
    „In 1956 he was convicted of abduction of a child by force or fraud.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 4
    „The job required him to take children with intellectual and communication disabilities to and from the school each day while unsupervised.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 4. Original · Archive copy

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. In hiring him the principal did not follow the requirements of the Catholic schools handbook and did not obtain a police check; according to the Royal Commission it would have disclosed the three sex-offence convictions, and Perkins would not have been employed. Contrary to policy, Perkins had unsupervised access to children in the woodwork shed and cared for two students privately. In 1991 police found films at his home showing two naked boys who were St Ann's students. The principal and acting principal did not inform the school board, and the principal did not inform the director of the education office. The Royal Commission finds that the Church parties failed in 1991 to inform families and protect children.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 4, Feststellung 2
    „Mr Hamam did not conduct a police check on Mr Perkins before employing him“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 4, Feststellung 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 4, Feststellung 2
    „A police check is likely to have disclosed that Mr Perkins had three prior convictions for sexual offences“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 4, Feststellung 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 5, Feststellung 4
    „Mr Perkins had unsupervised access to children in the woodwork shed contrary to the applicable policy.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 5, Feststellung 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 5
    „seized two canisters of film that showed two naked teenage boys“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 5. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 6, Feststellung 6
    „did not inform the board of management or board of governors (as a board) of the allegations against Mr Perkins despite the requirement of the school’s constitution to do so“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 6, Feststellung 6. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 6, Feststellung 11
    „There were failings by the Church parties in 1991 when the information about the sexual abuse first emerged“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 6, Feststellung 11. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. According to the Royal Commission, the police too failed seriously: in 1991 they issued no arrest warrant, did not examine seized photographs and for years did not extradite Perkins from Queensland; the archdiocese offered to pay the extradition costs, which the police declined. In August 2003 Perkins pleaded guilty to five sexual offences against three students.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 7, Feststellung 13
    „Police officers did not issue a warrant for the arrest of Mr Perkins in 1991“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 7, Feststellung 13. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 7, Feststellung 14
    „Pornographic photographs located in the possession of Mr Perkins were not examined.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 7, Feststellung 14. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 7, Feststellung 16
    „SAPOL declined to apply to extradite Mr Perkins from Queensland“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 7, Feststellung 16. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 8, Feststellung 19
    „the Archdiocese of Adelaide also offered to pay the costs of the extradition. SAPOL declined the offer.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 8, Feststellung 19. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 47
    „In August 2003, Mr Perkins pleaded guilty to five sexual offences in relation to three students“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 47. Original · Archive copy

Background

Who received the assets, who profited?

  1. By December 2004 the archdiocese had paid 38 families under a "group" approach, in total 2.3 million dollars from its own revenue, of which the church insurer covered 800,000 dollars in 2008. Some families never received a clear explanation of why amounts differed. To one mother Archbishop Wilson offered a "gift", writing that her son had not been specifically identified as a victim; no one from the Church had spoken with the family.
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 8
    „By 2 December 2004, 38 families who fitted this group approach had been paid.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 8. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 8
    „which totalled $2.3 million“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 8. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 8
    „In 2008, Catholic Church Insurance paid a total of $800,000 under the archdiocesan insurance policies“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 8. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 9
    „In a letter dated 20 September 2003, Archbishop Wilson made an offer of a ‘gift’ and said that ‘David Gitsham was not identified specifically as a victim of the abuse’.“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 9. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien, S. 9
    „no-one from the Church had spoken with them or sought information from them to determine the extent of David’s abuse“
    Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School, S. 9. Original · Archive copy

See also

Original documents to read

  1. Government report
    Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australien: Report of Case Study No. 9: St Ann’s Special School. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
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Last changed on 30 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.