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<\/p>\nDuring the wet season in one of Australia’s most isolated communities, heavy rainfall cuts road access.<\/p>\n
The only way in or out of Kalumburu in Western Australia’s far-flung Kimberley region is by air.<\/p>\n
It’s this remoteness some residents fear has left children vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Warning: This story contains details of alleged inappropriate behaviour towards children.<\/p>\n
Lifeguard had ‘serious concerns’<\/p>\n
At the local swimming pool, resident Kimberley French barbecues sausages for children splashing in the water.<\/p>\n
It is a community hotspot offering a reprieve from the dense wet season humidity.<\/p>\n
But Ms French claims she witnessed “concerning” conduct here in recent years.<\/p>\n
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Kimberley French alleges she witnessed troubling conduct at the local swimming pool. (ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)<\/p>\n
At the time she was a lifeguard, keeping an eye on dozens of children, but her focus would often shift to one adult.<\/p>\n
“As soon as these boys [came in], he would get really excited and call out their names,” she claims.<\/p>\n
“The tackling, the grabbing \u2026 he would have one arm across the chest and another across the stomach below the belly button and would grab them and bring them close to him.”<\/p>\n
That man was a teacher at Kalumburu Remote Community School.<\/p>\n
It is the only school in the community of about 300 people, 3,000 kilometres north of Perth.<\/p>\n
“I needed to be on deck, so he’d know I was watching him,” Ms French says.<\/p>\n
“The moment I came out to the pool, he would stop and let go of the kid.”<\/p>\n
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Kalumburu is one of Australia’s most isolated communities, particularly in the wet season when heavy rain cuts off road access. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)<\/p>\n
Ms French claims the energy changed when this teacher was around.<\/p>\n
“I saw this group of boys coming in and one caught my attention. He just turned around and walked away \u2026 he was gone,” she says.<\/p>\n
“I saw fear in that boy \u2026 you shouldn’t fear a teacher.”‘We keep a close eye on him’<\/p>\n
Kalumburu resident John, whose name has been changed for privacy reasons, alleges he also witnessed “unusual behaviour”, including the teacher holding children close to his body.<\/p>\n
John says his concerns intensified when he observed interactions under water.<\/p>\n
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The pool is a popular destination for children in Kalumburu during the wet season humidity. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)<\/p>\n
“I noticed [while playing with children] he was wearing fairly loose shorts, he had a full erection and was holding children against his erection,” he alleges.<\/p>\n
“There was one occasion I spoke to somebody and asked who he was, and they told me, ‘He’s a schoolteacher \u2026 we keep a close eye on him.'”<\/p>\n
The video<\/p>\n
A complaint and video footage triggered an investigation by WA Police and the WA Department of Education.<\/p>\n
The complaint, seen by the ABC, details allegations the teacher had an erection while playing with the children under water.<\/p>\n
The footage, which the ABC has seen but is not publishing for privacy reasons, shows the teacher initiating contact with students.<\/p>\n
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The complaint alleges the teacher had inappropriate interactions with students at the local swimming pool. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)<\/p>\n
In some videos, children clamber onto him and he pushes them away; in others he pulls the children towards him.<\/p>\n
In one video, he wraps both hands around a boy’s stomach and seats him on his lap.<\/p>\n
In another video, he steps away, covers his groin with his hands and pulls his shirt over his swimming trunks.<\/p>\n
The Department of Education did not specifically answer detailed questions about the incident or investigation.<\/p>\n
In a statement, it said the man had resigned from teaching and his registration had been cancelled.<\/p>\n
A Teacher Registration Board of WA spokesperson said the teacher’s registration had been cancelled due to an Interim Negative Notice, meaning the man was not entitled to “child-related work”.<\/p>\n
Lack of support<\/p>\n
The incident has left anger among residents, who want more transparency.<\/p>\n
Ms French claims no-one from the department contacted her despite her name and number being listed in the complaint.<\/p>\n
“There was nothing. Not one of them said, ‘Did you see that? Did you talk to the kids?'” she says.<\/p>\n
“That was really poor of the department. It made me really angry.”<\/p>\n
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The teacher is no longer working at Kalumburu Remote Community School. (ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)<\/p>\n
Ms French says silence from the department has left parents wanting answers.<\/p>\n
“They wanted to share their story, knowing him as a white man, knowing power,” she says.<\/p>\n
“The department should apologise for their poor actions.”A parent’s anger<\/p>\n
Down the road from the school, local mother Eva, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, sits timidly in her backyard.<\/p>\n
She says police spoke to her and her son but claims she was not made aware of the details of the complaint.<\/p>\n
“They just said someone saw how the teacher was acting towards kids \u2026 holding them and throwing them in the water,” Eva says.<\/p>\n
“They asked [my son] how the teacher was touching him, him and other kids.<\/p>\n
WA Police did not provide details on their investigation, but the ABC understands no charges were laid.<\/p>\n
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Eva claims she received no support or information from the Department of Education. (ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)<\/p>\n
The Department of Education says it will not comment on individual matters, but that “the safety and wellbeing of students is foremost”.<\/p>\n
“Support is always provided to students and families in circumstances where they are affected by instances of staff misconduct,” a spokesperson says.<\/p>\n
But Eva claims after meeting the police, no-one from the department reached out.<\/p>\n
“They should have come to the family \u2026 we didn’t have a chance to get told of what was happening,” she says.<\/p>\n
“Come out, speak to the families, make sure whoever comes here working with children, they are not behaving inappropriately.”<\/p>\n
Staff struggle<\/p>\n
Inside the school grounds, the incident also left an impact on staff.<\/p>\n
Multiple staff told the ABC no information or support was offered to them or the community by previous school management.<\/p>\n
“We were told a report had been made against him and we weren’t to talk about it,” one staff member says.<\/p>\n
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The teacher no longer works at Kalumburu Remote Community School. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)<\/p>\n
Prior to Kalumburu, the teacher worked in another remote WA school.<\/p>\n
The ABC understands staff members at this school had concerns, which included allegedly having students on his lap.<\/p>\n
It is unclear whether a formal complaint was made to the department about these concerns.<\/p>\n
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