Abuse survivor’s mum warned school of pedophile’s conduct but was told not to worry The mother of a boy abused by pedophile principal Ian Perry at a school near Colac wrote to the Education Department expressing concern over his “inappropriate behaviour” but was told not to worry. Janet Smythe, not her real name, wrote a letter in September 1992 outlining the “seemingly inappropriate behaviour of the head teacher” at Barwon Downs Primary School — now-convicted pedophile Ian Perry. He kept teaching until mid-1993, when reports began to be made to police about his conduct with numerous other students. In 1994 Perry was convicted of child sex abuse. Ms Smythe’s son Jack, not his real name, said the abuse he experienced at five left him unbalanced and defensive throughout life. At the time the victims received as little as $3000 in compensation. Jack said he recently considered the National Redress Scheme, created in response to recommendations by the Royal Commission, but felt “uncomfortable” with the framework, which would likely not have given him more than $50,000. Arnold Thomas and Becker lawyer Aleksandar Dukovski, who represented Jack, said he was recently able to obtain more than $550,000 in compensation. Mr Dukovski said he was aware of at least six victims of Perry, having already represented four victims and still calling for witnesses. Read more about this media story. Contact us As a leading Australian Abuse firm, we have helped hundreds of brave abuse survivors obtain compensation for physical, psychological and sexual abuse in intuitional settings. Money can’t take the pain away, however, it can help achieve clarity and closure. We have extensive experience in obtaining ground-breaking multi-million dollar payments for our clients. Visit our Institutional Abuse page for more information or call us on 03 9034 8433.