A girl who alleged she was gang-raped at school was considered promiscuous, discouraged from pressing charges and was offered no medical or psychological support, her parents have told the abuse royal commission.
Shalom Christian College in Townsville is under the spotlight at the commission in Sydney over its handling of the March 2006 incident in which a 14-year-old, known as CLF, was sexually assaulted on school grounds by four males.
![Shalom Christian College is under the spotlight at the child sex abuse Royal Commission in Sydney.](/web/20161104222506im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/p/p/z/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsg73r.png/1478066372184.jpg)
Two of the males were ex-students of the school but were still allowed to board there and one of them was a repeat sexual offender, the commission heard.
The four males responsible were acquitted of rape and convicted of the lesser charge of indecent treatment of a child under 16, however the convictions were not recorded.
The girl's parents told the commission through tears that they travelled from their home in far north Queensland as soon as they heard what happened and found the Townsville school had done almost nothing to support their daughter.
No report to police had been made, CLF had not been taken to the hospital for a medical examination and she had not been offered any counselling, they said.
Then principal, Christopher Shirley, told them there were rumours their daughter was courting sexual attention from boys and that it was normal for kids to be "exploring things" at that age, the commission heard.
"I said, 'Look here, this is not my daughter's fault'," the mother said.
"This isn't a case of exploration.
"(My daughter's) been raped."
She said Mr Shirley's first interest was to protect the school.
"He was also treating us like we were dumb black people," she said.
CLF's father said Mr Shirley asked if they were sure about pressing charges against the four males because they were from "well known and influential families".
"I was gobsmacked," he said.
The family approached the police without the school's help and the matter took six years to go through the courts.
Counsel assisting David Lloyd showed the parents a document from February 2006, a month before the rape happened, showing a teacher's record of CLF being sexually assaulted by a male student.
The parents said they found out about that document just this week, but if they had known about it at the time, they could have removed their daughter from the school before the gang rape occurred.
The parents broke down describing how their daughter returned home after the assault and became dependent on alcohol, drugs and violent relationships with men similar to her school abusers.
CLF regularly self-harmed and tried to take her own life, had psychotic episodes and often ran away from home, they said.
"A lady police officer said to me one time, I think your daughter has battered wife syndrome," the mother said.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.
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AAP