As a case study, one man who was convicted of murder is Gavin Morris, former headmaster of Yipirinya School. He perpetrated dozens of aggravated assaults on his students. All three of these incidents, which happened in 2023, involved male students between the ages of eight and thirteen. Morris’s use of violence, shaming, and ostracism not only terrorized the children entrusted to his care. Morris’s actions adversely affected their long-term health outcomes.
Morris was charged with five crimes and had a conviction on four counts. One of the gravest violations was the brutal sexual assault of a twelve-year-old boy after a shutdown on the playground. Morris stepped in by placing the boy in a headlock that inflicted pain while restricting the child’s breathing. This was extremely frightening and humiliating for my son.
In yet another dangerous saga, Morris was convicted. He was convicted for choking a boy who had entered a locked hall by mistake with a classmate. He grabbed two little boys by the earlobes. As a cruel joke, he went after them for damaging the daycare place. Witnesses stated that Morris routinely denied students their basic human dignity, calling them “little black c* *s” and “black dogs.”
Gavin Morris joined his staff as principal of Rūmaki, the independent school for Indigenous kids, in 2022. Following these deeply alarming allegations, his tenure came to an abrupt close. Judge Anthony Hopkins, who eventually handled Morris’s case, had this to say about Morris’s actions,
“Your actions were a grave and serious breach of that trust. You harmed children that it was your duty to protect.”
The judge expressed very powerful warnings about Morris’s mental attitude and longstanding behavior patterns. He found that Morris lacked empathy and had difficulty moderating his impulses in situations that provoked anger. Morris was acquitted of a second charge by the jury, related to allegedly choking an eleven-year-old boy in a special education classroom. His convictions undoubtedly remain a dark cloud over his immediate future.
As part of the sentencing, Judge Hopkins imposed an 18-month imprisonment term, fully suspended for two years, contingent on good behavior. We reached this conclusion, in part, because research shows that time in custody is not an effective deterrent to future crime. We’ve placed a top priority on keeping communities safe.
“Requiring you to serve a period of that sentence in full-time custody would do little to achieve the purposes of specific deterrence and community protection,” Judge Hopkins remarked.
