- Trial begins for Peter Cuzner, former teacher accused of sex abuse at Daramalan College
- Former student in Daramalan College sex abuse trial defends account
It was the morning of June 20, 2012, and the phone call, from a former Daramalan College student to the headmaster at Marist College Canberra, came out of the blue.
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The headmaster, Richard Sidorko, had been the former student's boarding master at an interstate school in the 1980s, and they had come to know each other quite well during that time.
The conversation on the phone that day moved from general chat, to talk about another former student, who had recently died. The student then asked the headmaster about a sexual abuse case at Marist College, which had been generating attention.
"He then said, 'you know, I've been abused too'," Mr Sidorko told the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday, at the trial of the student's alleged abuser. "My response was surprised, but not surprised.
"My biggest fear was that he had been abused at [the interstate school], and when I was there. He then said to me, 'no it was when I was at Daramalan'. He said it didn't happen at school, but it was a teacher who was a friend of the family."
The student's alleged abuser, Peter Cuzner, 61, has faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court this week on two counts of indecently assaulting the boy when he was in year 9, aged 13 or 14.
Prosecutors contend that twice in the 1980s, Mr Cuzner had touched the boy's groin while purporting to look for a pulse.
Mr Sidorko told the court that, as there had been a number of alleged incidents while he was headmaster at Marist, he went through the options with the former student on that phone call.
The headmaster had told the former student that he could go to the current principal of Daramalan College, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Church, the police or a solicitor. The student had indicated he was not interested in going to the Church authorities or the school, and that he'd likely find a lawyer.
Earlier on Tuesday, the complainant took the stand for a third day, where he faced questions from defence barrister John Masters on his motive for making the allegations against Mr Cuzner.
The witness denied suggestions he had launched a civil claim to get money from the Church, and denied the suggestion he had never intended to file a formal police complaint.
The trial continues before Chief Justice Helen Murrell.
