Exclusive:Revealed: 9 former Edinburgh Academy staff now reported by police over historic abuse allegations
Eight of the cases reported by police remain live
A total of nine former Edinburgh Academy staff members have now been reported to prosecutors by police in connection with allegations of historic abuse at the prestigious private school, it can be revealed.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has confirmed to The Scotsman that police have sent reports relating to nine individuals. It comes following the launch of an investigation known as Operation Treefrog.
Eight of the nine cases remain live, with one having already been through the courts.
A COPFS spokesperson said: “The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has received standard prosecution reports for nine individuals from Police Scotland in relation to allegations of non-recent abuse at Edinburgh Academy.”
Earlier this year, John Brownlee, a former teacher at Edinburgh Academy, was found to have physically assaulted and emotionally abused children at the school between between 1967 and 1991.
Broadcaster Nicky Campbell was among a number of former pupils who gave evidence during the hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Brownlee, who was 89 at the time of the hearing in March, had been deemed medically unfit to be criminally tried and did not attend.
An examination of facts was held at the court with 42 former pupils giving evidence.
The sheriff ruled Brownlee had repeatedly committed a number of violent assaults, against children aged between eight and 11 years of age, spanning 31 charges as well as “cruel and unnatural acts” at the school.
Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s procurator fiscal for historic child abuse, said in March: “John Brownlee has been found to have committed acts of great cruelty, to have terrified those he was entrusted to nurture during his time as a teacher.
“It is now a matter of public record that such acts were committed by the accused.” The nine individuals reported to the COPFS include Brownlee, as well as another eight.
The COPFS has previously said that Iain Wares, whose extradition from South Africa to the UK has been approved, faces 74 charges. Mr Wares, who has been accused of abuse by scores of former pupils of Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College, where he taught in the 1960s and 1970s, denies the charges.
Meanwhile, in December last year Police Scotland revealed five men, aged between 69 and 90, had been arrested and charged in connection with historical abuse at Edinburgh Academy. A sixth man, aged 74 last December, was also reported to the procurator fiscal.
The police said the abuse incidents are alleged to have taken place at the school between 1968 and 1992.
At the time, Detective Inspector Colin Moffat said: “We would like to thank everyone who has come forward and assisted our enquiries to date.
“While the investigation of child abuse, particularly non-recent offences, can be complex and challenging, anyone who reports this type of crime can be assured that we will listen and we will investigate all reports, no matter when those offences occurred or who committed them.”
Edinburgh Academy, sited on the city’s Henderson Row, marked its 200th anniversary earlier this month.
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