Marist Brothers appointed known child abuser as principal of Melbourne school in 1980, court told

Coffey, now dead, began working as a lay teacher at Immaculate Heart in 1972, arriving just weeks after pleading guilty to abusing a boy as a Catholic brother with the Salesians at a school in Port Pirie, South Australia, which resulted in a conviction and a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Eight years later, the Marist Brothers promoted Coffey to principal.

Once in the office, Coffey used his authority to facilitate his abuse of children without scrutiny, the court was told.

He constructed an extra door to his office, allowing the children he brought in to leave unseen without having to pass an administrative office.

The trial involves two plaintiffs, both represented by Ken Cush and Associates, who were abused by Coffey as boys.

On the first occasion, he was asked explicit questions and beaten with a metal ruler when he could not provide answers. On the second, he was made to expose himself to Coffey while crying in distress.

The abuse continued over multiple years until the boy, unable to bear any more, refused.

The trial continues before justice Jacinta Forbes.