[imagesource:lekkeslaap]

The prestigious St John’s College, along with an ex-teacher, are being sued for R60 million following the suicide of a pupil, Julio Mordoh.

Mordoh’s suicide in a mental health clinic followed years of mental health struggles after he was allegedly abused by a former teacher at the school.

Julio’s parents, Teresa and Marcio Mordoh filed the lawsuit in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on 4 November, claiming compensation from the school, the school council, the former principal, and their son’s alleged abuser for “emotional shock, sorrow, and trauma, as well as the financial cost of the incident”.

St John’s College says that although it has “deep empathy for the Mordoh family’s awful loss and actively supported Julio on his mental health journey”, they do not believe the school is responsible for his death.

St John’s told News24 in a statement: “Together with the senior legal counsel retained by St John’s College we will formulate our answer to these claims”.

The school launched an independent inquiry in 2021 after the former St. John’s student told his parents that he had been sexually assaulted by a prep school teacher. The investigation also revealed further claims of sexual assault by the same teacher.

The accused teacher later appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court and was charged with four charges of sexual assault that occurred at a school camp in the North West. The charges were, however, provisionally withdrawn earlier this year to centralise various cases.

While the case dragged through the courts, 20-year-old Julio died by suicide at a local mental health clinic – which his parents are also suing – in November 2022.

The Mordohs – represented by attorney Ian Levitt in these proceedings – are accusing the school of having “ignored pertinent and material information” on the teacher’s “inappropriate and harmful conduct” and of failing to “properly investigate complaints while [he] was still employed”.

“The school foresaw or should have foreseen that [he] was engaged in inappropriate conduct which could lead to Julio’s psychological harm [and] ultimate suicide” and charged that it had made “no effort to engage in protective measures to prevent harm” nor had it complied with its statutory duties to report suspicions of sexual abuse.

They also pointed to “the reasonable suspicion of sexual assault by [the teacher] raised with them by several staff members”.

The school told News24 that it “immediately reported the matter to the South African Council of Educators (SACE) and the Anglican Safe Church Unit through the Bishop of Johannesburg” following the investigation. St. John’s also emphasised that the allegations had only come to their attention in 2021.

They also cited the results of a separate investigation conducted by retired Constitutional Court Justice Johan Froneman on behalf of the St. John’s College council between 2003 and 2013 on the school’s safeguarding procedures and policies. Froneman concluded that the school was unaware of the accusations until 2021.

“The review records that no complaint of the kind now alleged against this former prep teacher was ever made by any boys at the prep during this period, nor by any parents.”

The Mordohs are demanding medical costs for both themselves and their son, in addition to general and constitutional damages.

According to their documents, Julio had been in and out of the hospital due to his alleged abuse and had experienced depression, anxiety, insomnia, dissociation, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, they described how his mother became extremely distressed after learning of her son’s mistreatment and the ensuing mental health issues, which ultimately led to her losing her position as a top executive.

After Julio’s death, they went on, Teresa suffered “severe neurological and psychological impact” and in-depth occupational assessments subsequently rendered her permanently disabled.

Marcio, meanwhile, had had to quit his job in the United Arab Emirates to take care of his son, they said, and he, too, suffered from “severe depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder”.

St John’s released a statement emphasising that the school “continues to offer support to the survivors of the alleged abuse”.

“The school has zero tolerance for any form of sexual abuse or other misconduct. We take our duty of care to our students extremely seriously and will do everything humanly possible to help rid our country’s schools of the scourge of sexual predators.”

Daily Maverick has more details of the abuse that made young Julio unravel.

[source:news24]