Michael Anthony Lunn, a 71-year-old former teacher, is accused of sexually abusing multiple students. The prosecution alleges he committed these acts while the students were on his lap or near him during classroom activities. Eight complainants, along with supporting witnesses, testified about the alleged abuse spanning four decades.
Lunn's defense argues he is a victim of a “rumor mill” and that the allegations are based on misinterpretations of his hands-on teaching style. They claim previous allegations in 1985 resulted in acquittals or a hung jury. The defense also suggests the complainants' memories might be influenced by rumors and innuendo. They contend the police interview was conducted improperly, leading to confusion.
The prosecution contends Lunn is a predator who “hid in plain sight.” They highlight the consistency in the testimonies from multiple complainants who describe similar patterns of abuse. They argue the complainants' accounts are credible and reliable despite the passage of time.
Judge Paul Maguire will deliver his verdict on April 23.
His lawyers argued he was a victim of the school “rumour mill”, having fought similar allegations levelled at him in 1985, which the court heard resulted in acquittals or a hung jury and no further proceedings.
The now 71-year-old was interviewed by police on August 2, 2022 after he was arrested at a Blue Mountains home over the present allegations. Three of the complainants later came forward following a police release and coverage by this masthead.
In the hours-long interview, tendered to the court and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, Lunn said he had been a hands-on teacher, adding: “A man should be able to treat children the same way as women.”
“A couple of times they said, ‘If you were a woman, it would be alright. But you’re not,’” he said. “Children need some hands on. So, yes I was hands-on, but I wasn’t sexual.”
Asked by police whether there had been “one victim or a number of victims” in his earlier court proceedings, Lunn said: “There weren’t any victims. They were normal things made into sexual things.”
When he “tucked a kid in” their uniform, it involved “sticking my hand in their pants”, he said.
Regarding the current case, prosecutors allege Lunn sexually abused the students as they sat on his lap or stood beside him during activities including show-and-tell and while marking their work.
Lunn said during show-and-tell, he would let the students “that loved to talk … get on with it”, while the “very shy” children were kept close and given a pat or stroke on the back for reassurance.
“There was no sneaky little things,” the former teacher said.
He said it was possible that he misjudged and “you go to touch the back, and it gets further down, or something”.
Lunn denied the specific allegations against him and appeared shocked at some of the suggested behaviour, responding that it was “ridiculous” and putting his head in his hands.
He also denied being sexually attracted to children.
“I really did love them. I cared for them ... I won’t say I didn’t love them, I did, you love every kid you’ve got, but not sexually,” Lunn said.
Asked by police about the “reason” multiple people had come forward with similar allegations, Lunn said: “Only that it’s been put in their heads from the past in some way, or they’re after money.”
The court heard during the interview, Lunn complained of chest pain and was assessed before it continued.
Defence barrister Pierre de Dassel submitted the judge should accept Lunn as “entirely truthful”. He argued the police had conducted the interview in a confusing, dishonest or “grossly inaccurate” way, mixing the allegations with hypothetical questions “bound to confuse anyone” and attempting to reverse the onus of proof.
The eight complainants, along with parents, partners, siblings and fellow former students, gave evidence about the alleged acts by Lunn and any complaints made in the four decades before they were reported to police.
One complainant alleged she had been digitally penetrated by Lunn and told she was a “good girl”. She said she “didn’t have anyone to tell”, but after the incident, she began putting an extra pair of underpants over her tights.
One man alleged Lunn molested and kissed him, and separately tried to push his pyjama pants down at a school camp. That man’s wife gave evidence he was “hyper-vigilant about child protection” for their children and “hated” the idea of sleepovers.
Another complainant alleged Lunn stroked her body while marking her work at his desk. She said she secretly took her workbook home and tried to erase her writing because she did not want to ask him for a new workbook, but the pencil imprint had remained.
The woman said she became upset and told her mother, “I don’t like what the teacher does”. She said her mother’s initial reaction was to say: “You know it’s very naughty to make up lies.”
Loading
The prosecutor said Lunn was a “predator” and it was a “classic example of hiding in plain sight”.
She said the “vulnerable, trusting, small children” captured in time in their school photographs were now adults who had “bravely, credibly and reliably told the court what the accused did to them”.
The defence argued “rumours, scuttlebutt and innuendo” circulated in social sets and families, which had the capacity to alter and contaminate students’ recollections.
Lunn’s barrister said his client successfully defended the charges against him in the 1980s, but faces a forensic disadvantage over the present allegations “from the same well of rumours” due to the passage of time.
“My client is the victim of the hatred against him that those rumours have created,” de Dassel said.
Judge Paul Maguire will deliver his verdicts on April 23.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Skip the extension — just come straight here.
We’ve built a fast, permanent tool you can bookmark and use anytime.
Go To Paywall Unblock Tool