Peponi House School was forced to send regret letters to parents after employing a teacher who abused children in the UK on numerous occasions.
Peter Toner, 60, who was jailed by a UK court last week had secured a job at the institution and worked there for 13 years.
A UK court last week convicted Toner for crimes committed in the 1980s, but which had escaped background checks by the school that hired him to teach between 2000 and 2013.
The revelation saw the school management write to the parents of 370 pupils to assure them their vetting was thorough and expressed regret that Toner had escaped their scrutiny.
[caption caption="Police in the UK taking away Peter Toner"]
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“We have recently been informed that Mr Peter Toner (who was a teacher at this school between 2000 and 2013) has been convicted of offences committed at another preparatory school in the UK in the 1980s, following his arrest in 2015,” read an email sent to parents and guardians who have children at Peponi by headteacher Robert Blake.
Blake stated that before Toner was employed as a science teacher by Peponi House, the institution had conducted a background check on him.
“Our records indicate that appropriate checks were made prior to Mr Toner’s appointment and safeguarding checks continued to be made during his employment as is the case of every member of staff,” the Peponi headteacher stated.
“We are appalled by the events of the past and it is saddening to see many cases across the world of historic child abuse, especially when those took place in schools. There is no place in society for abuse, particularly by those in positions of power. We admire the courage of those who came forward to report it,” he added.
UK Justice Anuja Dhir sentenced Toner to three-and-a-half years in jail for child sexual abuse after he was convicted for sexual abuse in the 1980s while working at St John Beaumont School, a Catholic school founded by the Jesuits.
[caption caption="Justice Anuja Dhir"]
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Toner was accused of preying on boys aged between nine and 12 years, filming them as they strip-teased and was further accused of measuring their private parts.
