(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
LOUISE MILLIGAN: Nestled among the mansions
LOUISE MILLIGAN: of Australia's Nestled among the mansions most expensive real estate
of Australia's most expensive real estate
of Australia's overlooking Sydney Harbour
is one of the country's most storeyed schools.
The Cranbrook School
is the alma mater of captains of industry and billionaires.
JASON GRAHAM-NYE: Driving past the school
that looks so incredible from the outside,
but in my mind it's a facade because I know what happened on the inside.
You live not so far away from Cranbrook now.
How do you feel when you go past that place?
How do you feel I avoid it.
Persistent debates about toxic masculinity
Persistent debates have led to a push
for private boys' schools to go co-educational.
But what's often lost in all of that
is whether institutions like this are safe places for girls.
CHANEL CONTOS: Even if you don't like the idea
of the fact that a boys' school is being spotlighted,
of the fact that a boys' school what about the girls?
Many female staff have left the school,
Many female staff bewildered at their treatment.
Investigations have been launched,
non-disclosure agreements signed,
settlements paid.
I just don't want another female to experience what I've experienced.
I just don't want another female It's like lambs to the slaughter.
And it needs to stop.
At the end of 2022
the entire council bar one member
of the prestigious boys' school Cranbrook
resigned after a very public war was waged with the headmaster.
resigned after a very public war At the time
the row was blamed on debates about the school going co-ed. At the time
the row was blamed on debates about the school going co-ed.
But our investigation
has uncovered a very different picture.
has uncovered In this episode of Four Corners
we investigate allegations
that have until now remained hidden
and why what happens at elite institutions like this
and why what happens matters for the rest of us.
It's a spectacular Sydney afternoon,
and a teacher is crossing Sydney Harbour
and a teacher to attend a meeting
at one of Australia's to attend a meeting
at one of Australia's most exclusive private schools.
So, I'm going in to meet with the headmaster.
Fiona Richards hasn't been able to work at the school for months.
I was ready to teach. I had the capacity to teach.
I was ready to teach. The only thing stopping me
was an inability to address the workplace bullying
and to ensure that the place was a safe place for me to return to.
Ms Richards has been trying to call Cranbrook to account
for the treatment she says she received
at the hands of a circle of senior men at the school.
I don't feel very hopeful, frankly.
I... I just don't.
I've realised that this is a bit of a pattern of behaviour,
and I'm not the only one.
And you don't think
that the behaviour directed towards you at Cranbrook was acceptable?
that the behaviour directed towards Not at all.
Not at all. It was...
It was shocking.
Four Corners has obtained multiple letters and documents
from former Cranbrook staff members describing a toxic culture.
So, I've got a series of letters here from women...
We read them to the former head of the Old Boys' Association
and a graduate of a nearby girls' school.
I just wanted to read those out to you.
The women's letters echo conversations
Four Corners has had over many months
with dozens of staff and families who have left Cranbrook.
Those letters were addressed to the headmaster, Nicholas Sampson.
So, 13 October 2020.
(READS) "Dear Nick,
"as it stands, I've lost everything I've worked so hard for -
"my role, my integrity,
"my confidence, my happiness. my strength."
"my confidence, my happiness. (PAGE FLIPS)
8 March 2021.
(READS) "The school will lose
"yet another hardworking, dedicated, experienced and capable leader
"as a consequence of being unable or unwilling
"to eradicate the toxic culture that exists within pockets of the school."
"to eradicate the toxic culture that (PAGE FLIPS)
16 June 2023.
(READS) "Dear Nick,
"Staff Bullying Grievance.
"I am writing to express my upset and concern
"at the demeaning and humiliating manner in which I have been treated."
"at the demeaning and humiliating Monday, 30 October 2023,
and this was to the Australian Monday, 30 October 2023,
and this was to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
(READS) "I am here today because Cranbrook failed me.
(READS) "I am here today "In my experience,
"Cranbrook did not have a safe, inclusive and supportive culture
"for me and its female teaching staff.
"That must change."
Yeah, it's just shocking and just...it's unimaginable.
To hear that now is...
..you know, massive questions
about whether they're ready for co-ed or not.
It seems like absolutely not.
I'm conscious, again, to comment on really specific stuff here...
..but I'm not surprised.
Ultimately it sounds so bad, but I hear the stuff day in, day out.
Ultimately it sounds so bad, but It's, um...
I'm almost numb to hearing these sort of things now.
ARCHIVE REPORTER: Cranbrook School occupies a magnificent site
at Bellevue Hill overlooking Sydney Harbour.
I started in kindergarten when I was three
and went all the way through to senior school,
and I just kind of bought into the vision of it
and just loved the philosophy of it.
It was a school that was committed to getting the best out of everyone.
That's an experience
shared by other parents Four Corners spoke to off camera,
shared by other parents who praised the teachers highly.
BRENT JACKSON: Cranbrook's a very nice school.
BRENT JACKSON: For us,
it was no real choice. For us,
it was no real choice.
Cranbrook was always going to be where Jack would go to school.
It's an impressive school with an impressive Latin motto.
So, the Cranbrook motto is 'Esse quam videri'.
So, the Cranbrook motto 'Esse quam videri'.
'To be rather than to seem to be.'
And it's a huge part of the school.
How do you feel about that motto now?
(INHALES SHARPLY) It's a lie. How do you feel about that motto now?
(INHALES SHARPLY) It's a lie.
It's all about saving face.
What you do see of this school from the street is quite something.
Cranbrook has just finished
an award-winning $125 million redevelopment of its facilities.
Like all private schools, it also receives government funding.
At last count, that was more than $6.5 million for the year.
Jason Graham-Nye dedicated his life to this school.
So, Jason, why are you here?
I'm here because I really have a great love for the school.
I'm here because I really I was a student there for 15 years.
I was a teacher there. I was a housemaster there for a time.
My sons went to that school.
And I saw behaviour
from senior management towards female staff members
that was completely unacceptable.
Some of that behaviour, he says,
was directed towards a senior marketing executive at Cranbrook
with whom he had worked when he ran the school's alumni association.
The marketing executive signed a non-disclosure agreement.
She didn't put you up to speaking on her behalf?
No. Not at all.
This is something that...
I'm just really passionate about the school
I'm just really passionate and about, you know, um...
..seeing the truth aired
because it's been, you know, buried.
When the marketing executive
made allegations of a toxic culture at Cranbrook
made allegations after leaving the school in 2020,
the school appointed Jason Graham-Nye her support person.
She wrote to Cranbrook
expressing her dismay at how the school had treated her.
(READS) "As Cranbrook stands poised to go co-ed,
"it concerns me greatly that these serious issues
"have apparently not been addressed nor resolved,
"despite assurances at the time of my departure
"that there would be an independent investigation,
"and one of several senior women and men in recent years
"and one of several "that I'm aware of
"have suffered professional demise
"at the hands "have suffered professional demise
"at the hands of this vicious culture
"and its repetitive associated pattern
"of intent-driven reputation destruction,
"white-anting, gaslighting, underhandedness, dishonesty,
"collusion and outright lies."
Staff, including senior men at the school,
had made numerous claims against her,
including questioning statements she'd made
including questioning about her university qualifications.
So, there was instances where, um... about her university qualifications.
So, there was instances where, um...
..she was going through So, there was instances where, um...
..she was going through health issues,
..she was going through and they were genuinely questioned
by the most senior leaders in that group,
which I just thought was a strange thing to do.
Without putting too fine a point on it,
she had cancer,
and they questioned whether she was telling the truth?
Yeah. Which I just found extraordinary.
You know, it's a great way to force someone out
You know, it's a great way is to create that environment.
The marketing executive's letter sent Cranbrook into a tailspin.
The school's council also became aware
the parent of a prefect had raised concerns:
A workplace lawyer wrote to the school
advising that an investigation be launched:
Did that cultural review ever take place?
Did that cultural review Not only did it never take place,
there was a review specifically of the marketing executive's departure,
there was a review specifically of but it was...
..it was run by someone but it was...
..it was run by someone on the senior leadership team.
..it was run by someone So, it was, um...
It was a completely ineffectual process.
In a statement Cranbrook told Four Corners
it can't discuss matters covered by non-disclosure agreements,
it can't discuss matters but it rejects any assertion
that the school condones:
In 2021, the year after the marketing executive left Cranbrook,
a scandal erupted in Sydney's private-school community.
Chanel Contos went public
with a petition detailing thousands of testimonies
of allegations of sexual assaults by private-school boys.
Chanel graduated from a neighbouring girls' private school,
so, Cranbrook boys were on the top of her list.
We got the most amount of testimonies
submitted from Scots College and Cranbrook,
which are two schools right next to each other in Bellevue Hill.
A few months after the petition,
I wrote to the headmasters of Scots and Cranbrook
to let them know that over the last few months
we had collected almost 500 testimonies of sexual assault
we had collected almost 500 that named the perpetrator
as either a Scots boy or a Cranbrook student.
Nicholas Sampson replied to Chanel Contos immediately,
and Cranbrook participated in an independent research study
on the culture of students at the school.
It says it's continuing to implement the findings,
which include consent and respect education for the boys.
Former mathematics teacher Jasmin Hyde
had what seemed to be a bright future at Cranbrook.
She was a law graduate who also had a degree in pure mathematics.
She was a law graduate who also But things unravelled
when a student attempted to blackmail her for nude pictures,
threatening to accuse her of abusing him
threatening to accuse her if she didn't send them.
While the boy who wrote the email apologised profusely if she didn't send them.
While the boy who wrote the email apologised profusely
and said he was ashamed, apologised profusely
and said he was ashamed,
shocked Jasmin Hyde.
the school's response shocked Jasmin Hyde.
(BIRDS SQUAWK)
She says she was invited by Nicholas Sampson and his deputy, Bob Meakin,
She says she was invited by Nicholas to this harbourside cafe in Rose Bay.
The account of that meeting formed part of a complaint
that Jasmin Hyde made to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
In her statement to the commission she said:
In response to Ms Hyde's allegations, Nicholas Sampson said:
The school's statement to Four Corners
says Mr Meakin never intended to offend and...
In the school's response to the Human Rights Commission,
Mr Sampson said:
But Cranbrook WAS aware of these incidents.
A PowerPoint seminar presented by teachers
had outlined all of those concerns about boys' behaviour -
wolf-whistling, sexually inappropriate gifts and comments.
It was presented in an email titled Respectful Relationships.
That email was sent to all senior school staff at Cranbrook
three years before Jasmin Hyde made her complaint.
"On playground duty
"boys would moan as if making orgasm noises when I walked past."
Three months ago
the Human Rights Commission upheld
Jasmin Hyde's claims of sexual discrimination at Cranbrook,
including failure to provide breastfeeding facilities for her
and a failure to find a car space when she was pregnant.
The commission doesn't have the power to make decisions
about harassment by students aged under 18.
The man overseeing all of this has been Nicholas Sampson.
Mr Sampson arrived at Cranbrook from the United Kingdom in 2012.
Mr Sampson arrived at Cranbrook A 2021 report revealed
he was the second-highest paid A 2021 report revealed
he was the second-highest paid principal in Australia.
Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to this assembly.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this morning's assembly.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome Good morning, everybody.
It's good to welcome you
to this final orthodox assembly of this term. It's good to welcome you
to this final orthodox assembly of this term.
My first impressions were here was someone who was a great orator.
My first impressions were here was Like, he was incredible.
He could hold an audience with no Like, he was incredible.
He could hold an audience with no notes and he could just captivate.
Mr Sampson lives rent-free
in a stone house on campus
overlooking Sydney Harbour.
He shares the home with his partner, a Cranbrook parent.
Ah!
How'd you go?
Well, um...
..as expected.
Former Cranbrook economics teacher ..as expected.
Former Cranbrook economics teacher Fiona Richards
feels bitterly let down by Nicholas Sampson.
She spoke to Four Corners after her meeting with the headmaster
about her workplace complaint about bullying.
about her workplace complaint No acknowledgement that, um...
..it was, um... it was due to workplace bullying.
..it was, um... How did that make you feel?
Oh, like I felt for the last... How did that make you feel?
Oh, like I felt for the last... last many months -
Oh, like I felt for the last... marginalised, just...not heard.
One thing I asked for, um... was an apology.
But, um...
Did you get one? No.
Why is it important to hear those words from Nicholas Sampson?
Because he's at the top.
He's presiding over these people, this culture.
And if the message doesn't come from him, then nothing changes.
Fiona was a former corporate lawyer
who found her love of teaching Fiona was a former corporate lawyer
who found her love of teaching later in life.
A senior teacher who sat in on her classes
when she started at Cranbrook in 2022
assessed them as 'excellent'.
But things soured when Fiona suggested
what she thought were fairly straightforward changes
to the commerce course.
What followed was a series of complaints about her own work.
What followed was a series I felt like this was a classic case
of victimisation, I felt like this was a classic case
of victimisation,
of someone immediately becoming the problem
when they've raised some legitimate concerns.
For the first time in her long career
For the first time Fiona became so stressed
her doctor advised her not to work.
She made her doctor advised her not to work.
She made a worker's compensation claim,
She made and her statement to the insurer
catalogues multiple minor allegations being levelled against her
in meetings with senior men at the school.
They include being late for debating
when she was travelling from an economics conference across town,
not attending after-hours activities on a day that she was sick,
being abrupt to staff at the sick bay.
I've never felt so disrespected before as a female.
And, um...I've never felt so humiliated in my working career.
And how were you at the end of this process?
Broken.
Distressed. Anxious.
Panicked.
Cranbrook's insurer upheld Fiona Richards' workplace injury.
But Cranbrook didn't accept this
and asked the insurer But Cranbrook didn't accept this
and asked the insurer to review that finding.
That review found once again in Fiona's favour.
But Cranbrook did their own investigation.
The person who conducted it didn't interview Fiona,
and she doesn't know who that person was.
and she doesn't know It's a totally unfair process.
It lacks transparency
and fair consideration It lacks transparency
and fair consideration of everyone's perspectives.
Fiona thought long and hard about speaking out.
Fiona thought long and hard I am desperate for things to change
and for no other female teacher I am desperate for things to change
and for no other female teacher to experience what I've experienced.
and for no other female teacher I wouldn't be here today
if I wasn't aware that I was standing on the shoulders
of other people who've been through similar experiences
of other people who've been through and at great personal cost.
In its statement, Cranbrook says
fairness was provided" to Fiona
it was, "satisfied that procedural fairness was provided" to Fiona
and the matter was handled appropriately.
(BIRDS TWITTER)
Cranbrook (BIRDS TWITTER)
Cranbrook is not the first elite school
where Nicholas Sampson's leadership has been questioned.
For three years until 2004
he was headmaster at Victoria's Geelong Grammar School.
In 2016, much to the concern of many in the Cranbrook community,
In 2016, much to the concern the Child Abuse Royal Commission
made multiple findings about Nicholas the Child Abuse Royal Commission
made multiple findings about Nicholas Sampson's historical handling
of the case of a later convicted paedophile at Geelong Grammar.
of the case of a later convicted Until now
the two men who blew the whistle on that episode
have chosen to remain anonymous.
Those two brothers now live on opposite sides of the world.
They've decided to tell their story for the first time to Four Corners.
We went to meet Shane O'Hare in Launceston in Tasmania.
He's a prominent chief executive officer,
and it's been a huge decision for him to speak out.
I wanted to start by asking you, Shane, why are you here?
Well, for many years, I've, um... I wanted to start by asking you, Shane, why are you here?
Well, for many years, I've, um...
..kept quiet about my situation with sexual abuse.
I do feel a real sense of responsibility to tell my story,
I do feel a real sense which is why I'm here.
But it's also to those
that are running the schools, the institutions,
it's to the, um... and to the students,
it's to the, um... um...that...
..to raise the awareness
and to ensure that this thing gets stamped out forever.
A long way from Launceston
in a small town outside of Toronto, Canada,
in a small town we met Shane's brother, Jeff O'Hare.
Jeff, why are you here?
Why are you choosing to speak out now?
I'm a firm believer in justice, Why are you choosing to speak out now?
I'm a firm believer in justice,
but particularly in the safety of all people,
and particularly children.
Shane and Jeff were boarders at Geelong Grammar in the '70s,
when a house tutor began to take an unusual interest in Shane.
when a house tutor began The man's name was Jonathan Harvey.
Harvey repeatedly sexually assaulted Shane over two years
Harvey repeatedly sexually assaulted from when Shane was 16.
Many years later
Harvey would be convicted of 10 acts of gross indecency.
So, it's a very, um...
It's a very difficult thing to live with, um...
..with the fact that you have been sexually abused when you were young.
..with the fact that you have been You live with it every day.
You feel quite guilty.
You feel betrayed.
Jeff O'Hare is an Anglican priest.
He had no idea about his brother's abuse
when he went back to their old school as chaplain.
At the time Jonathan Harvey was still teaching mathematics at Geelong.
Before the 2004 school year began,
Shane finally told police and Before the 2004 school year began,
Shane finally told police and his brother what Harvey did to him.
What was the feeling as a brother?
Um...
Devastation
that I couldn't be there for him.
Jeff reported Jonathan Harvey to headmaster, Nicholas Sampson.
Shane wanted his name to be kept confidential.
I wanted him to take immediate action to investigate, obviously,
to bring the perpetrator to some level of justice here.
I approached Nick and said, "I'd like to...I've got to...
"I need to have a confidential conversation with you."
And, you know, he immediately responded
that he knew that these things had been going on
with this particular person.
He referred to him as "an evil, manipulative person"
and that "we've been trying to get rid of him for years."
In his testimony to the Royal Commission
In his testimony Nicholas Sampson denied saying this.
Nonetheless, Jeff believed
that, with an accused paedophile Nonetheless, Jeff believed
that, with an accused paedophile in his midst,
that, with an accused paedophile the headmaster would act immediately.
Absolutely.
I mean, I actually expected that Absolutely.
I mean, I actually expected that Jonathan would be gone the next day.
And, so... But he wasn't.
And, so... No, he wasn't.
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
Instead Nicholas Sampson, who was (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
Instead Nicholas Sampson, who was leaving Geelong Grammar mid-year,
allowed Harvey to keep teaching at the school for almost a year.
JONATHAN HARVEY: Mr Sampson told me that,
whilst no formal allegations JONATHAN HARVEY: Mr Sampson told me that,
whilst no formal allegations had been made,
whilst no formal allegations um...he thought it would be sensible
for me to retire at the end of the year.
Well, I think that was absolutely disgraceful.
Well, I think That in any circumstances
he should have been immediately suspended, um...pending...
..pending an investigation.
Mr Sampson did not alert authorities to the allegations about Harvey,
and the Royal Commission found in 2016
that he should have notified the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
You had allegations which you regarded as serious
that Harvey had sexually abused a boy.
Jonathan Harvey retired
without the allegations of sexual abuse
ever being disclosed in the school's records,
and Nicholas Sampson approved ever being disclosed a $64,000 payout in the school's records,
and Nicholas Sampson approved a $64,000 payout
for an extra year of work
Harvey did not do.
Do you agree that, that being the position, Harvey did not do.
Do you agree that, that being the position,
that survivors of child sexual abuse be entitled to think,
in your estimation,
it's a totally unsatisfactory response?
Now... Now it's been... it's been understood...
..and the scale of...
..well, his conduct ..and the scale of...
..well, his conduct has been made clear,
..yes, I do. Um...
I, um...
I've heard what people have said about what they have suffered.
It is heart-rending, astonishing
and it's a betrayal.
(BIRDS TWITTER) and it's a betrayal.
(BIRDS TWITTER)
Mr Sampson would later say
the arrangement with Harvey was not a sweetheart deal.
Well, yes, it was. (LAUGHS)
What else could it have been Well, yes, it was. (LAUGHS)
What else could it have been
after he knew why he was retiring Harvey? I mean... Or dismissing.
I mean, retirement is a joke.
He should have been dismissed immediately.
How much were you paid in the first instance
in an ex-gratia compensation payment by Geelong Grammar School?
in an ex-gratia compensation payment I was paid approximately $23,000.
Nicholas Sampson repeatedly referred in the Royal commission
Nicholas Sampson repeatedly referred to Shane's request for anonymity,
insisting his actions were informed by the victim's wishes.
And I do understand that, insisting his actions although I was being pragmatic, were informed by the victim's wishes.
And I do understand that, although I was being pragmatic,
um...and trying to achieve the victim's wishes,
that some of that language just isn't good enough.
Was it your wish
that Jonathan Harvey remain in his job until the end of the year?
that Jonathan Harvey remain Not in the slightest.
Before he left Geelong Grammar
Nicholas Sampson wrote to Jonathan Harvey.
He thanked Harvey for his "outstanding service,"
described him as a "wonderful teacher, an outstanding housemaster,
described him as a "wonderful "a fine and thoughtful colleague"
and "tremendous and committed."
"Thank you for your friendship and kindness towards my family.
"We will keep in touch and kindness towards my family.
"We will keep in touch
"and look forward to seeing you before too long."
It was about the boys' club. That's what it was about.
It's just a complete and utter lack It was about the boys' club. That's what it was about.
It's just a complete and utter lack
of respect for me as an individual
in a school
that was supposed to be caring for me.
that was supposed If you had him in front of you now,
what would you say If you had him in front of you now,
what would you say to Nicholas Sampson?
I'd say, "What were you thinking, Nicholas?"
In a Cranbrook statement to Four Corners
Mr Sampson rejects that there was a boys' club at Geelong.
Mr Sampson rejects that The school said:
Well, for me...
For me, it wasn't a long time ago.
I think that anything,
whether it's today or whether I think that anything,
whether it's today or whether it's 10 years ago or 20 years ago,
the same level of care and responsibility
are required from a senior officer in the school,
are required from a senior officer as he was the most senior officer.
Geelong Grammar told Four Corners it was committed to:
As news of Nicholas Sampson's handling of the Geelong Grammar case
As news of Nicholas Sampson's hit the Cranbrook community,
it caused considerable consternation amongst some parents.
it caused considerable consternation Those parents were horrified
when Cranbrook's council threw Those parents were horrified
when Cranbrook's council threw its support behind the headmaster.
(READS) "Why the school would place itself in that position
"is beyond me,
"especially given his own evidence.
"There is a moral failure here,
"even if there might not be a specific legal one."
Cranbrook parent Brent Jackson wrote to the council,
Cranbrook parent Brent Jackson alarmed at its support of Mr Sampson.
In his own testimony,
without the legal obligation to the Victorian teaching authority,
without warning the incoming headmaster,
without warning without putting any checks in place,
without any serious investigation,
he left the teacher to teach out the year while he went to England.
he left the teacher to teach out Well, I think, uh...
..in all the communications we received from the school,
it always said that his number-one concern was child protection
and that was his most important concern.
And yet this didn't seem to match that.
Three months after Nicholas Sampson gave his evidence
in the Royal Commission,
Cranbrook's council agreed to extend his contract.
The Royal Commission did make multiple findings
which were critical of Nicholas Sampson,
including that his friendly letters to Jonathan Harvey
were misleading about the real reason for Harvey's retirement.
Cranbrook's new chair, Roger Massey-Greene,
sent the council what he proposed writing to parents.
He said he did so on the advice of a crisis communications strategist.
'Exemplary' is the description that Travis Mathews disputes.
For the first time Travis is telling his story
about what he says happened to him at Cranbrook when he was 13.
Travis had been a ward of the state in Western Australia
Travis had been a ward of the state since he was a baby.
His mother was dead.
The state was paying Cranbrook His mother was dead.
The state was paying Cranbrook for Travis's tuition
because his older sister was working at a nearby naval base.
ADRIAN BARAKAT: This was an opportunity
for Travis to come to Sydney, to go to a private school,
where the opportunities from there were infinite, for Travis to come to Sydney, to go to a private school,
where the opportunities from there were infinite,
and instead it became, you know, his nightmare.
Travis says the nightmare began
shortly after he started in Year 8 at Cranbrook,
when he was repeatedly abused by an older boarder.
So, you were 13?
Yeah, I was 13 at the time.
He, on a number of occasions, got quite violent
and aggressive.
He forced me to perform oral sex on him, and aggressive.
He forced me to perform oral sex on him,
um...in his room
on a number of occasions
and threatened on a number of occasions
and threatened that, if I told anyone,
he would make my life hell, basically.
he would make my life hell, And you now know as an adult
that as a 13-year-old you can't actually consent to that?
No, you can't consent to that.
(PHONE RINGS)
Travis Mathews is suing Cranbrook,
and his lawyer had earlier discovered
that the school had already conducted an investigation
into the older student and his alleged touching of other boys.
Travis says he was abused for some months
until he says the older boy filmed him without his knowledge.
until he says the older boy I think my perpetrator realised
that if I was to ever come out,
he would be looked in a bad light.
So, he told me to make sexual advances on him in his room,
and then recorded me making those sexual advances,
and used that as evidence
to tell the school
that I had been the one purporting all of this at the age of 13.
When Cranbrook discovered the video recording,
Travis was sent to a school counsellor
Travis was sent and finally disclosed the abuse.
Police commenced an investigation.
The older boy remained at the school.
Travis says he often saw him and felt very afraid.
I think the headmaster should have removed him from the school,
especially after the numerous instances of sexual abuse
especially after the numerous that had come to light.
It just wasn't OK that had come to light.
It just wasn't OK that he was there.
Just after Travis disclosed his sexual abuse,
his housemaster emailed Cranbrook staff.
Documents kept by the housemaster
focus on Travis being 'annoying'.
The housemaster doesn't once write focus on Travis being 'annoying'.
The housemaster doesn't once write
anything that expresses empathy for a child
who is the alleged victim of sexual assaults.
The fact that he didn't realise
any of these instances were a cry for help
I think was extremely traumatic for me.
Travis Mathews eventually told police
he did not want to proceed with charges.
I was very much under the impression that the courts wouldn't believe me.
The school didn't believe me.
A senior Cranbrook teacher sent a group email with the news.
Nicholas Sampson was included in multiple emails
Nicholas Sampson was included about Travis Mathews' allegations.
Not once does the Cranbrook headmaster write a comment
about the school's response to Travis
nor did he ever personally meet Travis.
When you have a series of serious sexual abuses being reported,
for the principal to not even weigh in, When you have a series of serious sexual abuses being reported,
for the principal to not even weigh in,
not a skerrick of evidence that there was an email
or a concern expressed by him or any guidance given by him
to his staff in relation to how this should be managed,
to his staff in relation nothing,
that is not exemplary, that is substandard.
that is not exemplary, Cranbrook says it:
And:
Travis Mathews is now a serving member
Travis Mathews of the Australian Defence Force.
11 years after the alleged abuse,
he finally commenced legal proceedings
in the New South Wales Supreme Court last month.
No person should have to go through what I went through.
I felt that I was sort of robbed of my high-school experience.
It's a feeling shared by some alumni of another elite school
It's a feeling shared by some alumni many thousands of kilometres away.
The school is Marlborough College.
Nicholas Sampson served as master - The school is Marlborough College.
Nicholas Sampson served as master - equivalent to principal -
between leaving Geelong Grammar in 2004 and joining Cranbrook in 2012.
It's one of the most prestigious schools in the United Kingdom.
It was once attended by Kate Middleton,
It was once attended now the Princess of Wales,
and other members of the Royal Family.
Four Corners contacted numerous alumni
Four Corners contacted who attended the school
during the period that Nicholas Sampson was master.
What emerged from the experiences they described
What emerged was a very distinct picture.
I know some girls who had such... was a very distinct picture.
I know some girls who had such...
..such difficult experiences at Marlborough
with the boys in their house and in their year
that they haven't been the same since.
that they And we've spoken to some...
Marlborough College graduate Lucy
describes a culture where girls were completely outnumbered
and sexist behaviour was tolerated and even encouraged by the teachers. describes a culture where girls were completely outnumbered
and sexist behaviour was tolerated and even encouraged by the teachers.
She and other alumni we spoke to off camera
who attended Marlborough during the Sampson years
describe persistent harassment of girls,
including having water balloons thrown at them from high windows
to make their blouses see-through,
being humiliated at assembly with sexual innuendo in front of teachers,
being humiliated at assembly with pornography pasted on bedroom walls.
There were games, um...
..revolving around There were games, um...
..revolving around the boys' genitals.
You'd be sitting on the sofa in your common room,
You'd be sitting on the sofa and a boy would come over
and either put his finger on your shoulder from behind,
um...or his penis,
and you either had to guess which one it was
or just, you know, the game was sort of see
how long it would take you to notice that it was there.
Once this game went further
and a boy in my house actually put his testicles on, um...
..my friend's head.
Graduates recall
the school's long-running satirical magazine, The Heretick,
sexualised and objectified the girls.
Lucy remembers one particular edition.
It was of boys sitting in the lunch hall holding up numbers,
rating the girls as they walked past -
so, the kind of thing you expect at a sheep show or a dog show
so, the kind of thing you expect or something like that -
on their levels of hotness.
I mean, you know, this was a on their levels of hotness.
I mean, you know, this was a magazine that was known about by...
(EXHALES HEAVILY) ..by the teachers.
It was signed off by teachers.
I don't think there's any way that a senior member of staff or the master
could claim to not know what the culture was like.
I think Nicholas Sampson should have been more involved in the culture
and trying to change it or at least regulate it.
and trying to change it What would you say to parents
who are thinking of sending their girls to a school like this?
Don't do it.
Nicholas Sampson says he's never heard
Nicholas Sampson of these very serious allegations
and they stand in contrast
with an independent school safety report on Marlborough College.
VIDEO VOICEOVER: We are now moving to become co-educational.
We are inviting girls to join our school
for Year 7 and Year 11, 2026.
At Cranbrook for Year 7 and Year 11, 2026.
At Cranbrook
to make the school co-ed.
Nicholas Sampson has led the charge to make the school co-ed.
But, while the Cranbrook council was supportive of co-ed,
Mr Sampson's plan in 2022 -
to have a billionaire parent
fund 40 girls coming to the school the following year -
fund 40 girls coming to the school was rejected by the council.
Because it seems like,
before we go co-ed, we've got a whole lot of things Because it seems like,
before we go co-ed, we've got a whole lot of things
to address and learn about and improve upon,
because going co-ed seems absurd at this moment in time.
But then there was an enormous pushback about,
"We've got to go co-ed tomorrow."
The council was also worried
about the allegations from women of a toxic culture.
about the allegations from women It proposed a cultural review,
which didn't happen.
They are on the council
to hire the headmaster and hold him accountable.
to hire the headmaster That's the basics of governance,
and it's not nitpicky.
Former council chair, Jon North, sent Four Corners a statement
saying he was unable to comment on Mr Sampson,
but that in November 2022 saying he was unable to comment on Mr Sampson,
but that in November 2022
10 of the 11 council members:
He said:
Eventually, all but one of the council members resigned.
The idea of not saying anything,
ironically, it goes against the values of the school.
You know, that school taught me that speaking out is needed.
I mean, the lives that have been devastated,
it's completely unacceptable.
Cranbrook says it has:
And "there has been no victimisation" of women at the school,
which has: And "there has been no victimisation" of women at the school,
which has:
Four Corners received legal threats after contacting Cranbrook,
and Travis Mathews was threatened with a suppression order
that would have prevented him from identifying himself.
(LEAVES RUSTLE)
It's not easy to speak up about a powerful institution like Cranbrook.
But these people feel there is a higher principle at stake.
Although only a select amount of people
go to these sort of institutions,
those people disproportionately go on to run our country
those people disproportionately and make policies and run businesses
that affect all of us.
And the way that people are educated and socialised and how they grow up
and what values are ingrained in them from a young age
really does go on to completely shape the future
really does go on of our whole country,
for better or for worse.
Why should the rest of Australia care about what's happening
at this fancy school in this fancy suburb?
FIONA RICHARDS: Because there are future leaders at that school.
I just think that this kind of culture
shouldn't be tolerated in any organisation,
let alone in an organisation with impressionable young minds.
(LEAVES RUSTLE)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation