THE ELLIS SCANDAL

Imagine this. A 37-year-old male school teacher has sex with a 15-year-old student. At least six times. Even in his wife’s bed. He is convicted and placed on a serious sex offender’s register.

He is banned from working with children in a paid or voluntary capacity. Must notify police when he goes on holiday, must notify police of any change in address, must notify police if he has children visit his house.

Imagine your concern when I tell you this afternoon that this man lives next door to a primary and secondary school. You would be outraged. You would be understandably angry.

But change the name of this mythical male to Karen Louise Ellis and I am telling you the truth.

I have received e-mails from parents whose children attend those schools.

Now, I am not suggesting that Ellis is a serious threat to teenaged boys in that area even though she committed sexual offences against one child – who was under the age of consent – and for which she could have received jail sentences of fifteen years for every offence.

But it shows you the hypocrisy. She walked free because she is a woman. Other, male, sex offenders have rightly gone to jail. So should she.

And to make it worse…. I believe that Karen Ellis is revelling in her notoriety. The sex siren. The 37-year-old phys ed teacher who looks good in gym shorts and can bonk a 15-year-old in her marital bed and then take him to McDonald’s. Do you want fries with that?

She had her hair done for court. Wore tight fitting outfits to court. Showed cleavage for the TV cameras. I know she was offered the use of a side entrance to the courtroom the other day and elected to have her fifteen minutes of grubby fame and use the main steps for the media scrum.

And all the time – as you heard on the news yesterday – that poor, cuckolded husband, with an inane grin, kept saying “no comment, no comment”. What are their kids going through? What teasing have they copped at school?

And another thing. How could the Herald Sun legally name the teenaged boy involved. Surely he is a legal victim under Section Four of the Crimes Act. He was under the age of consent and protected by the justifiable anonymity that the law provides. The father of a sexual assault victim came on my TV programme and named his own son (with his permission) and the DPP sued me. They argued that, even with consent, and underage child could not be named. They overturned a magistrate’s acquittal and fined me and tried to jail me. Will they now go after the Herald Sun which ran the “young stud’s” name and photo.

The overriding issues here are two-fold. Whether there was collusion and encouragement and permission or not. Karen Louise Ellis broke the law. When challenged she told investigators (after an initial denial) that “I’m not blaming B—because he was only 15 for God’s sake. It was my fault. He is only young. I should have known better”.

And she should have gone to jail. Instead she has milked her fifteen minutes of grubby fame.

Thursday. November 11, 2004

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2004