Cordelia and Purdey
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Cordelia, in her 30s, has Down syndrome and intellectual disability.
As a young girl she attended a local private school that was accepting of children with disability.
‘They just absolutely welcomed her and she was thriving there with friends and good teachers.’
But after a few years, things changed. Cordelia’s new teacher was ‘a man who had a reputation for ogling girls and for walking in on them in the change room’.
One day, Cordelia came home from school crying.
‘I noticed that she had marks on her body. And I said, “Who did it?” And she told me the teacher’s name but she was ashamed. So, what he actually did to her was he squeezed her breasts … He scratched her vagina and he ejaculated in her mouth. And she actually said it had happened lots of times. I was absolutely in shock and just trying to make sense of it.’
Cordelia led police to the small room where the sexual abuse took place. She told them the teacher ‘gave her a chocolate.’
There was an open box of chocolates in the room.
‘So whether it had happened with other girls or just with her, obviously that was lots of times.’
The teacher was charged, but the school ‘exonerated him’ and wrote to parents saying that ‘in the eyes of the state and in the church, he has no case to answer either to the community or his employer’.
‘Even though we moved [Cordelia] to a different school, I just felt a huge responsibility because the school was still taking in children with disabilities, more and more, and was welcoming him back on staff.’
When Purdey gave evidence to the school’s governing body, the teacher’s was finally dismissed.
‘There was still no, “We’re sorry this happened,”’ said Purdey. ‘There was never any offer of support or guidance or counselling. Their inaction is negligence.’
The ‘mental and emotional impact’ on Cordelia ‘was just devastating’.
‘From being this happy playful, engaging, funny little girl she became almost violent at times with these thoughts that were going through her head.’
Purdey wants to see ‘ongoing screening of teachers and staff in all education settings’ and ‘for schools to take seriously and investigate any reports of inappropriate staff member behaviour’.
Instead, in Cordelia’s case, it’s been ‘isolating, blaming, victimising, stigmatising of the child’.
Today, Cordelia lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder because of the abuse.
Her abuse has been acknowledged through the national redress scheme, but never by the school.
Purdey says this acknowledgment would help Cordelia ‘feel better’.
‘She wants them to say, “Dear [Cordelia], we are sorry that you got hurt and damaged at our school. We are sorry that we didn’t help you ... that you have been very scared, shaky, sad and worried for a very long, long time since. You are an amazing, wonderful, honest and brave young woman who told the truth. We believe you, we are very, very sorry.”
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.