Staff at an elite private boy’s school were aware of a vile group chat used to share sickening ‘racist, misogynistic and homophobic’ content for weeks before they decided to punish any of the students involved.
New details have emerged about Knox Grammar’s handling of a secret chat room in which students sent ‘disturbing’ messages about gang rapes, abortion and Hitler.
The $35,000-a-year school first heard of the group in late July but only alerted parents this week, when the vile messages leaked, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Knox Headmaster Scott James sent a letter home to parents on Wednesday to advise that ‘several boys’ had posted ‘inappropriate messages and engaged in offensive commentary in private chat rooms’.
However it has since been revealed there were over 150 participants in the group chat ‘Gang Gang’ – the majority students or former students from Knox Grammar.
Teenagers at Knox Grammar, a private boys school in Sydney’s North Shore, used a encrypted app to post ‘racist, misogynistic and homophobic’ content
Mr James also told parents that the matter had been referred to NSW Police.
However, a source told the Daily Telegraph that police were only made aware of the full extent of the messages when they were shared by the publication on Tuesday.
Daily Mail Australia has sought Knox Grammar for comment on the new revelations.
Police have investigated a video shared in the chat room of a student handling ammunition. They concluded it belonged to the boy’s father who is a licensed firearm owner on a private property.
Some of the more graphic content has been handed to the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes unit who are yet to find any material that constitutes a crime.
The revelation comes just hours after a Jewish body called for the entire Knox Grammar cohort to meet with a Holocaust survivor.
Users in the chat room, hosted by the messaging service Discord, sent vile messages using aliases like ‘n*****removalservice’ and ‘Fa**othater3000’.
‘I hate fems I hate gays, jews, people who don’t play fortnite, furries, n*****s, I love titties, feet abortion, rape, drugs,’ one of the disturbing messages read.
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark invited Knox’s entire cohort to the Sydney Jewish Museum to meet with a Holocaust survivor
After reading the ‘grossly offensive and unacceptable’ conversations, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark invited Knox’s entire cohort to the Sydney Jewish Museum to meet with a survivor.
‘We are horrified by reports high school students in Sydney are expressing antisemitic and pro-Hitler sentiments online,’ Mr Barks said in a statement on Thursday.
‘To glorify and praise an abhorrent figure responsible for the genocide of millions of innocent people is both grossly offensive and unacceptable.
‘We invite the entire Knox Grammar cohort to visit the Sydney Jewish Museum and to meet with a Holocaust survivor, so they can realise there is nothing remotely funny about their comments.
‘We would also welcome participation by Knox students in the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies’ Respect, Understanding and Acceptance program, which breaks down barriers between students from different religious and ethnic backgrounds.’
Knox Grammar has suspended several students for their participation in the group and have launched an internal investigation (pictured, a mock-up of the Discord messages)
Knox Grammar has since suspended several students for their participation in the group dubbed ‘Gang Gang’ and have launched an internal investigation.
A spokesperson from the school told Daily Mail Australia the boys who had been expelled were ‘trying to settle in at other schools’.
The messages include a mixture of sexist, racist and anti-Semitic sentiments coupled with several extreme anti-abortion statements.
‘Hitler is always stay in my heart. Heil Hitler,’ one message read.
‘Silly ‘pro choices’ think women’s rights matter … I only hate children and wish for them to die, take them out at the source,’ a second wrote.
‘I’m a maniacal potential pedophile who rapes babies for a living,’ a third said, while another asked why they hadn’t been invited to a ‘rape party’.
Shocking videos of young men appearing to be brutally raped or assaulted were also shared in the group chat, believed to have been formed about two years ago.
One student in the chat said ‘gang gang lore’ would prevent members from snitching with another assuring that teachers didn’t have the authority to ‘search your device for non-school related affairs’.
Psychologist Tim Watson-Munro slammed the content as ‘deeply disturbing’ and said the chat room gave ‘off a feeling of a club or even a cult’.
The messages are a mixture of sexist, racist and anti-Semitic sentiments coupled with several extreme anti-abortion statements (pictured, a mock-up of the Discord messages)
‘What is very troubling is there appears to be some organisation in the way they communicate,’ ‘he told the Daily Telegraph earlier this week.
Mr Watson-Munro said there was a danger of an ‘unhinged’ group member acting out some of the sadistic statements in their day-to-day life.
In a letter sent home to parents on Wednesday, Knox Headmaster Scott James said the students involved posted ‘inappropriate messages and engaged in offensive commentary in private chat rooms’.
‘The nature of these posts is contrary to the values and culture of Knox and is unacceptable,’ the letter said.
‘The actions of these boys do not reflect a Knox education or the expectations that we place on our students to be respectful and responsible citizens in the community.’
Mr James said there had been a ‘range of consequences’ for the students involved who had been punished according to their participation in the chat room from ‘suspension to students leaving the school’.
In a letter sent home to parents on Wednesday pictured), Knox Headmaster Scott James said the students involved posted ‘inappropriate messages and engaged in offensive commentary in private chat rooms’
‘In regard to the images, some were taken during school activities and later doctored, and the school has spoken to the families of identifiable students.
‘To be very clear, the doctored images do not require mandatory reporting under child protection requirements, and we have discussed the matter with Police.’
Parents were asked to speak to their sons about how they used social media and to remind them to use platforms ‘respectfully’ and ‘sensibly’.
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