Ex Newborough primary teacher Peter Farmer jailed over child sex abuse

Herald Sun

2 days ago

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A pedophile primary school teacher who sexually assaulted five female students, often during class, will spend at least four years behind bars after pleading guilty to the vile abuse that 'ruined lives'.
Peter Farmer, 66, was sentenced on Tuesday, more than 30 years after abusing 'fragile and innocent' young girls he taught at a school in Victoria's southeast.
He was sentenced after pleading guilty to eight charges of indecent assault of a person under 16 and two charges of gross indecency with a person under 16.
The offending took place at a Gippsland primary school where Farmer taught from 1982-1988.
Farmer forced the girls to touch his penis and touched their vaginas while working as a teacher at Murray Road Primary School, now called Newborough Primary School.
The court heard Farmer put his fingers inside one victim's pants every day for two terms, even when she was showing her work to the rest of the class.
A victim impact statement read to the court revealed another victim felt so guilty and ashamed about being abused by Farmer that she was unable to speak about what happened, even when asked by her mother.
The victim said her mother had come to her 'in a panic' after first hearing about Farmer's offending.
'She said 'he didn't do anything to you, did he?,' she wrote.
'I told her no.
'I didn't want to disappoint her or make her upset.'
In a cruel twist, the victim revealed Farmer had taught the class songs including John Farnham's You're the Voice.
'It now makes me cringe,' she said of learning the lyrics.
'I didn't feel like I had a voice.'
The victim said she had not spoken about the abuse until she was contacted by police after one of his former students, now aged in their 40s, reported Farmer.
She had assumed action had been taken and felt 'deeply guilty' and 'physically sick' that Farmer was not held accountable for his actions until now.
'I still carry the weight of what that assumption may have meant for others.'
Farmer's offending ended when someone working nearby saw him taking his hands out of a student's pants and reported him to the school
He was banned from the school but returned to leave notes and gifts for students before he officially resigned.
Farmer headed north after leaving Newborough Primary School and was arrested in Queensland in 2022 after his offending was reported to police by a former student.
Judge Geoffrey Chettle said Farmer's offending caused 'significant and irreparable psychological damage' to his 'young, fragile, innocent' victims.
He said the victims had suffered PTSD, severe depression, anxiety and insomnia and felt shame and fear.
'The damage you caused these children has ruined their lives,' Judge Chettle said.
'You enjoyed life in the Queensland sunshine while your victims endured years of distress.'
The court heard Farmer was suffering from a pedophilic disorder at the time of his offending.
However, Farmer's 'pedophilic interest had declined' with his age and he was now a 'low risk' of recidivism.
Judge Chettle took into account Farmer's guilty plea and 'genuine remorse' when sentencing him to six and half years jail with a non parol period of four and half years, minus 103 days served in pre-sentence detention.