Auckland private school’s chaplain accused of historic sexual abuse

<h2>The Ministry of Education has offered its support to a leading Auckland private school after its chaplain took leave following an accusation of multiple sexual assaults on a boy at an Anglican school in Tasmania&period; <&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>A report in the New Zealand Herald claimed Father John Goodwin was no longer living on the grounds of King&&num;8217&semi;s School in Remuera&comma; nor teaching its pupils&comma; following an allegation of historical multiple sexual assaults on a schoolboy&period; The Herald claims to have obtained documents showing a former pupil at Hutchins School had filed a writ with the Supreme Court of Tasmania seeking damages for the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of Goodwin 20 years ago&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On Monday&comma; a Ministry of Education media advisor told School News&comma; &&num;8220&semi;We were not aware of this matter but have now contacted the school to offer our support if needed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Every school must have a Child Protection policy in place and must meet their obligations under the Children’s Act&period;  We provide guidance to schools about their responsibilities under the Children’s Act&period;&&num;8221&semi; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>King&&num;8217&semi;s School is &&num;8216&semi;a leading independent boys&&num;8217&semi; primary school&&num;8217&semi;&comma; with a roll of 700 pupils&comma; aged four to 13&comma; according to the school&&num;8217&semi;s website&period; Established in 1922&comma; the prepatatory school&&num;8217&semi;s fees start from &dollar;20&comma;000 per year for children in its Early Learning Centre and Year 1&comma; increasing to &dollar;24&comma;400 for Year 7 &&num;8211&semi; 8 pupils&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The New Zealand Teaching Council responded to School News&&num;8217&semi; request for information on the developments&comma; stating&comma; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The matter you query about has been brought to our attention&comma;  however we’re unable to comment further as we’re in the very early stages of considering the information and determining next steps by the Teaching Council &lpar;in accordance with our jurisdiction&rpar;&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>King&&num;8217&semi;s School&&num;8217&semi;s head of communications and marketing did not respond to School News&&num;8217&semi; questions and request for a statement ahead of our weekly e-newsletter being finalised&period; There was no mention of Father John Goodwin on the school&&num;8217&semi;s website on Monday afternoon&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;