Arabic version: محكمة الاستئناف في نيو ساوث ويلز تنظر في الطعن بشأن مسؤولية هيلغا لام
According to ABC News, the State of New South Wales is challenging a ruling that former Sydney teacher Helga Lam cannot be held financially liable for sexually abusing male students in the late 1970s.
In a civil case last year, a judge found Ms Lam had engaged in repeated sexual conduct with four boys in 1978 and 1979, when they were aged between 13 and 15 and she was 25. Ms Lam, now in her early 70s, has denied the allegations. She has never been convicted because criminal charges initially brought against her were later found not to apply to women in the 1970s.
The men sued the state, which agreed to pay them $2.5 million. The state subsequently sued Ms Lam seeking a contribution to that sum. In a November decision last year, Justice Ian Harrison found she could not have foreseen the risk of harm to the students given the societal understanding of child sexual abuse at the time. He found the school was responsible and could have foreseen the harm.
David Lloyd SC, representing the state, told the Court of Appeal that the primary judge had erred by finding Ms Lam knew sex with teenage boys was wrongful but could not have foreseen harm. He said the conduct was known to be wrong in the community because it exposed children to harm. Mr Lloyd also referred to one boy whom the judge found was physically shaking after Ms Lam began touching him indecently.
Ms Lam’s defence maintains that she did not and could not have foreseen the relevant harm from her actions in 1978 and 1979. The matter is listed for a two-day hearing before Justices A Payne, R McHugh and M Ball.
