Salesian College “Rupertswood” - Sunbury

Salesian College in Sunbury, Melbourne originally began in 1927 as an agricultural school and was later transformed as a home for Catholic boys run in accordance to the teaching practices of St John Bosco (Don Bosco), the founder of the Salesians. By the 1940’s, Salesian College began accepting wards of the State of Victoria and juvenile offenders. Furthermore, the school was also accepting boys placed there by their parents in the same way as any ordinary boarding school. In 1961, the school was taking both boarders and day secondary students. The school remained a single sex boarding and day school until the early 1990s when the boarding section was phased out and the school began accepting girls.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has identified 44 claims of child sexual abuse connected with Salesian College at Rupertswood. These claims made up of 39 per cent of all the claims of sexual abuse received by the Salesians of Don Bosco between 1989 and 2014. On average, the Salesian Order received two claims per year during this period. More importantly, these claims of child sexual abuse have led to the prosecution and sentencing of the following individuals – former principals Father Frank Klep and Father Julian Fox; Father John ‘Jack’ Ayres; Brother Gregory Vincent Coffey; and Brother Peter Paul Van Ruth.

Moody Law has represented in the past and is still representing clients who were students at this school.

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

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form.