False sexual allegations threw a male teacher’s life into “turmoil”, leading to the loss of his marriage, career and passion for teaching.
He has spoken out, on condition of anonymity, to reveal the tense tightrope many male teachers walk in a profession ripe with allegations.
The Queensland Department of Education, which investigated the man, say all allegations must be treated with the utmost seriousness – and so they should.
But behind every false allegation, there is a life ruined.
This is his story.
One afternoon I was called by my principal and told that I could not return to school the following day.
No explanation. No details.
Just that I had been referred to the department’s integrity unit.
Within a week I was called into the regional office with union support. I sat in a meeting, expecting answers, but once again I was told nothing specific.
Only that the matter involved a student and had supposedly occurred two years earlier at a previous school.
I was sent home, still in the dark, still suspended from my work, still without any way of defending myself.
That moment was the start of a nightmare that lasted for almost a year.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. The silence was deafening.
Every day I waited for the phone to ring, for a letter to arrive, for someone to finally tell me what I was accused of.
It never came. The uncertainty was unbearable.
It was not until April 2023 that I first heard any...
Martin Shipton A fact-checking organisation has accused Wales Office minister Anna McMorrin of making false claims about the use of hotels for asylum seekers. Full Fact, which is composed of indep...