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http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=930212004
Deaf pupil guilty of sex attacks
BRIAN HORNE
A DEAF teenager has admitted carrying out sex attacks on other pupils at Edinburgh’s famous Donaldson’s College.
Daryll Rennie, 18, indecently assaulted two girls and had underage sex with a third when he was a student at the school for deaf children.
His victims were all aged either 14 or 15 when the attacks were carried out.
Rennie, who was 13 at the time of the first offence, dragged one of the girls into a "cleaning cupboard" before indecently assaulting her.
The college in West Coates, a familiar part of the skyline in the west of the city, takes in pupils from all over Scotland and the North of England in need of special education because they are deaf.
A judge heard yesterday that many also have other behavioural or emotional problems and often end up at the residential school after being transferred from other schools.
The sex attacks began just a year after an abuse scandal at the college which led to the then principal being found guilty of kicking a pupil. Rennie, of Dunarn Street, Newtyle, Perthshire,
started at Donaldson’s in April 1998 after "difficulties" at local schools in the Dundee area, said advocate depute Sean Murphy QC, prosecuting.
He told the High Court in Edinburgh that Rennie left in April 2002 after complaints about his behaviour from other pupils.
The complaints sparked a long investigation which led to Rennie facing three rape charges and five charges of indecent assault.
But in court his guilty pleas were accepted to a charge of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl and to indecent assaults on two other girls, aged 14 or 15 at the time.
Rennie was only 13 when he groped one of the girls. At the time, he was younger than his victim, but bigger and stronger.
Another girl told school authorities and police how Rennie had pulled her by the sleeve into the "cleaning cupboard" at the school - which was a room large enough to hold two sinks. There he put his hands under her clothes. On another occasion he did the same, after following her into the girls’ toilets.
The court heard that a third girl feared she might be pregnant after a sexual encounter in the cleaning cupboard. Fortunately her fears turned out to be unfounded, said Mr Murphy. Her story was investigated by the school and then police were called in.
Mr Murphy also told the court that during the preparation of the case he had come to learn a great deal about the problems faced by deaf youngsters.
"They tend to be more tactile than others for the very obvious reason that it assists communication," he said. Deaf children were also more likely to show sexualised behaviour at an early age, he added.
Donaldson’s College has a roll of about 74 pupils between the ages of three and 19, with 25 of them living on site, the court heard.
Mr Murphy said that the school had a supervision programme, but was a little sceptical about whether it operated effectively.
Defence advocate Mhairi Richards QC suggested the court should have a report from Donaldson’s headteacher and from a psychologist who is an expert on the sexual behaviour of deaf youngsters before deciding what to do with Rennie.
Judge Lord Macfadyen told Rennie to return to court next month and allowed him to remain on bail until then.
School Principal Janet Allan said today: "As soon as the allegations were made we co-operated with the statutory authorities and immediately dealt with it.
"We have been inspected several times since then by the Care Commission as well as an HMIE inspection and all have been very positive.
"No school has control over pupils every single minute of every single day, but our child protection policy has been endorsed by all the relevant bodies."
Donaldson’s College was rocked by abuse allegations in 1998 when the then principal and one of its teachers were charged with physically abusing pupils.
The then principal David Scott was suspended following an allegation that he physically and emotionally abused a female pupil from the Lothians.
The teenager later dropped the claims but by then Mr Scott was facing other similar allegations. He later resigned from his post. Following a police investigation, Mr Scott was charged and found guilty in court of kicking a pupil, but given an absolute discharge.
Mr Scott, who faced seven charges of kicking and punching pupils at Donaldson’s College, was cleared of all six of the other allegations against him. The other teacher was cleared of the charges against him.
Mr Scott, who became principal of the college in 1992, was described during the trial by fellow teachers as a "moderniser" who tried to bring Donaldson’s, which was established as a college for the deaf in 1850, into the 20th century.
Deaf pupil guilty of sex attacks
BRIAN HORNE
A DEAF teenager has admitted carrying out sex attacks on other pupils at Edinburgh’s famous Donaldson’s College.
Daryll Rennie, 18, indecently assaulted two girls and had underage sex with a third when he was a student at the school for deaf children.
His victims were all aged either 14 or 15 when the attacks were carried out.
Rennie, who was 13 at the time of the first offence, dragged one of the girls into a "cleaning cupboard" before indecently assaulting her.
The college in West Coates, a familiar part of the skyline in the west of the city, takes in pupils from all over Scotland and the North of England in need of special education because they are deaf.
A judge heard yesterday that many also have other behavioural or emotional problems and often end up at the residential school after being transferred from other schools.
The sex attacks began just a year after an abuse scandal at the college which led to the then principal being found guilty of kicking a pupil. Rennie, of Dunarn Street, Newtyle, Perthshire,
started at Donaldson’s in April 1998 after "difficulties" at local schools in the Dundee area, said advocate depute Sean Murphy QC, prosecuting.
He told the High Court in Edinburgh that Rennie left in April 2002 after complaints about his behaviour from other pupils.
The complaints sparked a long investigation which led to Rennie facing three rape charges and five charges of indecent assault.
But in court his guilty pleas were accepted to a charge of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl and to indecent assaults on two other girls, aged 14 or 15 at the time.
Rennie was only 13 when he groped one of the girls. At the time, he was younger than his victim, but bigger and stronger.
Another girl told school authorities and police how Rennie had pulled her by the sleeve into the "cleaning cupboard" at the school - which was a room large enough to hold two sinks. There he put his hands under her clothes. On another occasion he did the same, after following her into the girls’ toilets.
The court heard that a third girl feared she might be pregnant after a sexual encounter in the cleaning cupboard. Fortunately her fears turned out to be unfounded, said Mr Murphy. Her story was investigated by the school and then police were called in.
Mr Murphy also told the court that during the preparation of the case he had come to learn a great deal about the problems faced by deaf youngsters.
"They tend to be more tactile than others for the very obvious reason that it assists communication," he said. Deaf children were also more likely to show sexualised behaviour at an early age, he added.
Donaldson’s College has a roll of about 74 pupils between the ages of three and 19, with 25 of them living on site, the court heard.
Mr Murphy said that the school had a supervision programme, but was a little sceptical about whether it operated effectively.
Defence advocate Mhairi Richards QC suggested the court should have a report from Donaldson’s headteacher and from a psychologist who is an expert on the sexual behaviour of deaf youngsters before deciding what to do with Rennie.
Judge Lord Macfadyen told Rennie to return to court next month and allowed him to remain on bail until then.
School Principal Janet Allan said today: "As soon as the allegations were made we co-operated with the statutory authorities and immediately dealt with it.
"We have been inspected several times since then by the Care Commission as well as an HMIE inspection and all have been very positive.
"No school has control over pupils every single minute of every single day, but our child protection policy has been endorsed by all the relevant bodies."
Donaldson’s College was rocked by abuse allegations in 1998 when the then principal and one of its teachers were charged with physically abusing pupils.
The then principal David Scott was suspended following an allegation that he physically and emotionally abused a female pupil from the Lothians.
The teenager later dropped the claims but by then Mr Scott was facing other similar allegations. He later resigned from his post. Following a police investigation, Mr Scott was charged and found guilty in court of kicking a pupil, but given an absolute discharge.
Mr Scott, who faced seven charges of kicking and punching pupils at Donaldson’s College, was cleared of all six of the other allegations against him. The other teacher was cleared of the charges against him.
Mr Scott, who became principal of the college in 1992, was described during the trial by fellow teachers as a "moderniser" who tried to bring Donaldson’s, which was established as a college for the deaf in 1850, into the 20th century.
