The outspoken principal of an independent school in Mparntwe/Alice Springs has been arrested by Northern Territory Police following allegations of assaulting multiple children, some as young as eight years old.
Gavin Morris, 46, the principal of the Yipirinya School - the largest Indigenous school in Central Australia - was arrested on Thursday morning and as of Thursday lunchtime was in a holding cell at Alice Springs watch house.
The Australian also reported a number of staff and students had been visited by police and interviewed last week before Mr Morris' arrest Thursday morning.
The NT Police said a 46-year-old male was arrested in relation to "historic aggravated assaults at a school in Alice Springs".
"On the 20 June 2024, police received reports of historic physical assaults on children at the school. It is believed the alleged assaults occurred on multiple separate occasions in 2023," the police statement said.
"The six victims were aged between eight and 13 years old at the time of the assaults, and police will allege the man was an employee of the school at the time."
Late on Thursday, NT Police said the man has been charged with 5 counts of aggravated assault.
NT chief minister Eva Lawler told reporters she was "very concerned" about the allegations.
"I don't have the full details around why he's been arrested and that matter now, obviously, if he's been charged, will be one that we will monitor closely," Ms Lawler said, The Australian reports.
"I know all teachers know that through teacher registration you cannot manhandle a child, you can't touch a child ... so the consequences of any any man handling of a child is that you lose your teacher registration and if you lose your teacher registration, you can't teach in the Northern Territory school, but we have mutual recognition across Australia."
The school advertises itself as Aboriginal people for Aboriginal children and has 380 students, and 65 per cent of its staff are Aboriginal.
All of the students enrolled at Yipirinya speak a language other than English and according to an op-ed in the NT News on Thursday by Mr Morris, the school is at its highest attendance in history.
Mr Morris has been outspoken on the "crisis" impacting youth in the town, arguing staff have often needed to contact magistrates to have bail conditions altered for children in order for them to participate in after-school programs.
He has repeatedly highlighted the need for more funding for Yipirinya - including for a specialist boarding facility - which has been backed up by opposition spokesperson for Indigenous affairs, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, whose mother, Dom Bess, is the Upper Primary Hub Coordinator; Language and Culture at Yipirinya
Mr Morris also sits on the Alice Springs Town Council.
Earlier this year he pled guilty and was fined almost $5,000 without a conviction for hiring two unregistered teachers, after charges were brought by the Teacher Registration Board of the Northern Territory.
He was bailed and is due to appear in Alice Springs Local Court on August 13.
