…Ellis expected to proceed on leave this week
One of the victims who were preyed upon by Bishops’ High School teacher Coen Jackson related that head teacher Winifred Ellis was aware of the teacher’s predatory behaviour, but did nothing to address it.
Sources close to the institution related that the head teacher was expected to proceed on leave this week.
“My partner made a complaint to the headmistress asking that she investigate the matter. A week later, Coen Jackson called me five times. He asked if I was the one pushing the matter, he told me he had admitted what went on between us to the head teacher as he had no choice, he said my partner and him had Facebook quarrels and he was taking it too far, he said there was going to be a hearing and asked if I was going to come out against him,” Cris Smith said in a viral Facebook post.
Jackson is accused of abusing his position of trust as a teacher when he began grooming female students for sexual activities after they would have attained the age of 16 – the legal age of consent. Jackson has vehemently denied the accusations, but did admit to having sexual relations with two former students who are both in their early 20s – including Smith.
Ellis came into the spotlight after she berated female students for not defending Jackson after the allegations hit social media. The Education Ministry on Friday concluded its investigation and found that Ellis was culpable of breaching the regulations under the Education Act 39:01, Section 35 “Inappropriate behaviour by teachers in school”, which comes with a first warning. The committee has since recommended that Ellis be reprimanded and be made to offer an apology to the students and teachers at the institution.
In relation to Jackson, the committee handed over his file to the Police for further investigation. The Police investigation is ongoing and they are compiling statements from victims.
Smith, in her Facebook post, said that she was not conspiring against the teacher.
“As a teenager I suffered from depression. I was an easy target for someone I’ve now come to recognise as a sexual predator. From the time I was 15, I spent the rest of my years of my life up until now normalising indignity after indignity so much that when it finally ended, I felt barely human to myself. I couldn’t tell anyone everything that happened to me because the most relatable thing I could say was that I was betrayed; I was also forbidden to speak about it by the offender. Betrayal is easy to swallow and take pity on,” she wrote.
“For one year after it ended, I could not sleep properly, I had anxiety attacks that made my chest hurt and I was in pain every day. I could not tell anyone what happened to me, because I was ashamed at what I had allowed,” Smith added.
On Tuesday, The Bishops’ High School Old Students’ Association held an extraordinary general meeting to address the incident after calling for Ellis to be sent on administrative leave to facilitate an independent investigation.
