And isn't St Alipius a feeder school for St Patrick's with a number of the same teachers?
In 1971, according to the Royal Commission, all male teachers and the chaplain at the St Alipius Christian Brothers Boys School were molesting children. It is feared some of the worst offenders had hundred of victims. From 1968 to 1973 (inclusive), when Brother Robert Best was aged from 27 to 32, he taught at St Alipius parish primary school for boys in Ballarat East, where he also acted as the headmaster. While working at this school, he resided at St Patrick's College, where he also supervised a dormitory. Around these years, the St Alipius school usually had only four teachers at a time. Apart from Best, three other St Alipius teachers have been the subject of sex-abuse complaints. These are: Brother Edward Dowlan (who was jailed), Brother Stephen Farrell (who was given a two-year suspended jail sentence) and Brother Fitzgerald (now dead, therefore it is too late now to prosecute him). The school chaplain was Father Gerald Ridsdale (who was later jailed).
In 2011, the court convicted Best of 27 sexual crimes, committed against 11 young boys. The convictions included: one incident of buggery (defined in court as "penis into anus") of a nine-year-old boy (Paul) in 1969; and 27 incidents of indecent assault (that is, indecent touching) of other boys, aged between eight and thirteen between 1969 and 1986.
