Aquinas College, Perth

Aquinas College (locally abbreviated as Aquinas) is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys. It is located at Salter Point, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Aquinas opened in 1938 when boarders and day students from Christian Brothers College (CBC Perth) moved to the new campus at Salter Point. The history of Aquinas begins with CBC Perth which was founded in 1894 in the Perth central business district. Aquinas College currently has a total enrolment of 1100 students from Years 4 to 12, which includes day and boarding students.

The College has been involved in allegations of child sexual abuse in regard to Brother Daniel Virgil McMahon. Brother McMahon is alleged to have committed numerous child-sex crimes while he was working/serving for the Christian Brothers in Western Australia and South Australia from the 1960s to the 1980s. It is reported that various colleagues of his complained of his inappropriate behaviour to superiors at the College but that nothing was done to halt or investigate his behaviour by the Christian Brothers hierarchy. Furthermore, it is reported that while the Christian Brothers knew of his brutal punishment on students during his time as Assistant Principal/Principal at the schools he served at, it was not until 1997/1998 that they became aware of his transgressions involving sexually abusing students. Again, nothing was done by the Christian Brothers hierarchy at the time as they allowed him to continue serving as a priest in Tasmania.

We invite former victims to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

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