Gordonstoun School in Moray has been linked with a series of sex abuse allegations relating to the early 1990’s.
A report in the Observer Magazine on Sunday says that their investigations had uncovered a series of allegations of assaults at Aberlour House, the junior school at Gordonstoun, citing accusations by a former scholarship pupil.
The unidentified pupil said that she suffered years of bullying and abuse at the school as a result of an incident at a camping trip.
She reported an alleged rape offence that it is claimed took place in 1990 – an accusation that came to light in 2013 after a group of over 100 former pupils opened a Facebook campaign to force the school to recognise historical problems the school had with bullying, abuse and inadequate child protection.
According to Sunday’s Observer report the school said that it had made contact with the group of former pupils expressing “deep concern for everyone affected and encouraging anyone with evidence of criminal behaviour to contact the police”.
A Gordonstoun spokeswoman told the newspaper that the school had cooperated fully with the police in the past and would do so in the future, adding: “Child protection is something we take very seriously and we are committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all our students.”
The report cites two cases, one boy and another a girl, who claim to have been assaulted as 12-year-olds in their dormitory at Aberlour House. In the case of the boy the alleged assault was carried out by a named English teacher that the school guaranteed would never teach again if the boy’s parents gave up on a prosecution.
When the boy, now 37, decided to seek justice in 2014 the report says that he learned the teacher had returned to the classroom at other schools. He subsequently died in a car accident five years ago.
Differences in law are being blamed for so few cases of this nature being brought to courts in Scotland compared to other parts of the UK. Concerted lobbying in 2014 derailed an attempt by the Scottish Government with support of police and prosecutors to change the law of corroboration in Scotland.
However, Lord Bonomy is currently heading a committee set up to investigate corroboration and other anomalies in Scottish criminal law and is expected to report this month.