St John’s College denies responsibility for former learners suicide
St John's Council commissioned retired Constitutional Court Judge to conduct an independent review of the school’s safeguarding policies and processes.
St John’s College confirmed to the publication on December 4 that it is one of 11 defendants cited in a R61m civil claim by the family of a 20-year-old former learner, Julio Mordoh who tragically died by suicide at a mental healthcare facility in November 2022.
The school’s executive headmaster Stuart West noted that the school had deep empathy for the Mordoh family’s awful loss and had actively supported Julio on his mental health journey, however, the school did not agree with the claims made against the school.
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“Together with the senior legal counsel retained by St John’s College, we will formulate our answer to these claims,” said West.
“The claims relate to a former teacher at St John’s Preparatory, who resigned in 2013 to take up a promotional post at another school, and who is alleged to have sexually abused several boys during his tenure at the school.”
In a viral news video on TikTok, Julio’s mother, Teresa Mordoh said the family wanted compensation for the emotional shock, grief, trauma, and financial toll the ordeal had brought about.
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West added St John’s had deep empathy for the loss suffered by the family in the civil claim and actively supported their son on his mental health journey by financing some of his medical costs as a goodwill gesture in 2021.
West explained that the school first became aware of the allegations against the former preparatory school teacher in October 2021, after a victim – then an adult – disclosed the alleged abuse during his time at the preparatory to his parents.
“A subsequent independent investigation resulted in other former learners coming forward to report alleged sexual abuse by the former preparatory teacher during their time at the preparatory. Criminal charges were laid with the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit on November 15, 2021.”
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The school immediately reported the matter to the South African Council of Educators and the Anglican Safe Church Unit through the Bishop of Johannesburg.
The St John’s College Council also commissioned retired Constitutional Court Judge Johan Froneman to conduct an independent review of the school’s safeguarding policies and processes between 2003 and 2013, with an emphasis on the preparatory school during the employment period of the former teacher allegedly responsible for the abuse.
In his review, Froneman noted that the school did not know of any incidents of alleged sexual abuse before the allegations emerged in late 2021. The review records that no complaint of the kind now alleged against this former preparatory teacher was ever made by any boys at the preparatory during this period, nor by any parents.
“There is nothing to indicate that the staff, headmasters of the preparatory and the college, or the council, failed to report criminal conduct that came to their knowledge,” said Froneman in his review.
“No boy or parent reported any conduct of the kind to the school during the relevant period. I could not find or discern any kind of cover-up on the part of the staff or the then-headmasters about the events.
“Tellingly, it was [the former Prep headmaster] himself who, upon being approached by a parent in October 2021 about what she had been told by her son, immediately contacted the school about it.”
According to West, St John’s College continues to offer support to the survivors of the alleged abuse, including providing ongoing psycho-social support to some of the former preparatory school learners who had laid criminal charges against the former preparatory school teacher, and who have made themselves available for such support from the school.
St John’s College recognises its moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the learners within its care. West added the safeguarding of learners was at the heart of the college’s mission to protect, cherish, and nurture every child entrusted to its care. As a school, St John’s College recognises its moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the learners within their care.
Safeguarding was at the heart of the college’s mission to protect, cherish, and nurture every child entrusted to their care. In fulfilling its vital responsibility to keep learners safe, the St John’s Safeguarding Policy is grounded in the college’s unwavering belief that the rights of all children must be upheld, that every learner deserves to be treated equally with love and respect and that their dignity as individuals must always be honoured and preserved.
The school has zero tolerance for any form of sexual abuse or other misconduct and continues to cooperate fully with the relevant authorities to ensure justice is served in this matter.
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