‘You are not alone’: Police urge victim-survivors to come forward after teacher charged with historical child abuse

A man has been charged after allegedly committing nearly 50 historical child sexual abuse offences. Police will allege a 68-year-old man committed 49 offences against 19 different young people at a Brisbane educational facility while he was a teacher between 1988 and 1990. The children were all between the ages of nine and 10 at the time of the alleged offending. The 68-year-old was taken into custody on Saturday following extensive investigations and a search warrant at his Brisbane south address. He’s been charged with 27 counts of indecent treatment of children under 16, 17 counts of taking child for immoral purposes, and five counts of common assault. The man was refused police bail and is expected to appear at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday. Detective Acting Inspector Deanna Geck urged anyone with information to come forward, calling the alleged crimes “reprehensible”. “Crimes against children, who are our most vulnerable, are reprehensible and police are committed to pursuing every avenue of investigation to ensure we seek justice for them,” she said. “I commend all victim-survivors who come forward and help police hold perpetrators to account. “I want to reassure you that what has happened to you is not your fault and you are not alone, and that there are support services available to you. “We encourage anyone who has any knowledge of this type of offending, is themselves a victim-survivor of sexual violence or has information to provide in relation to this investigation to come forward.” The charges come as part of an investigation, coined Operation Whiskey Mott, into historical child sexual offences following a formal report lodged on June 10 this year. NewsWire previously revealed a Queensland law firm was working on more than 800 abuse cases in Queensland alone, the majority of which were historical child sexual abuse cases. Shine Lawyers Queensland general manager of personal injury Craig Oliver said about a quarter of those cases related to abuse that took place in schools. Counselling and support services