Aussie on trial for child abuse of Filipino boys, 9 to 11 years old

Lindsay Murdoch and Rachel Olding

July 17, 2013

 

A former Scotch College teacher and head of an international school in China has been charged over the alleged sex abuse of four Filipino children as young as nine.

Hilton Reece Munro, 45, used a 14-year-old boy to recruit younger boys who were sexually abused at a beach resort hotel on the Philippine island of Cebu, police allege.

They say the boys, aged nine to 14, were brought to Mr Munro’s room by local taxi driver Gilbert Andrada, 41, who has also been charged with child sex offences.

Mr Munro was the head of the Zhuhai International School in Zhuhai City in China’s Guangdong province until last month.

He denied the allegations after his arrest last Friday, telling police: ”The kids are my friends who were contacted by another friend here in Cebu.”

Police said boys aged nine, 10, 11, 12 and 14 were found in Mr Munro’s room at the Stakili resort in Compostela town in northern Cebu.

Police said Mr Munro told them he was a ”professor” from Australia before refusing to answer any more questions and then lying down on the floor of a police cell with his T-shirt over his head.

Mr Munro was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in the dorm of a Melbourne boarding school in 2003 – which was not Scotch College.

Mr Munro was a successful hockey player who represented both Australia and New Zealand. He toured India with the Australian Universities hockey team and captained the NZ indoor hockey team in South Africa.

He was at Scotch from April 1999 to December 2000, and was heavily involved in boarding life at the prestigious Melbourne school, coaching hockey teams, refereeing matches, organising special father-and-son ”working bees” and ”cooking up feasts” for groups on weekends away to the bush.

In 1999 and 2000, he took groups of year 7 students and international students on weekends away.

On Monday, he tried to cover his face during a brief closed court appearance.

Sheryl Bautista, deputy head of the Philippines’ anti-human trafficking taskforce, told the Cebu Daily News Mr Munro paid the boys between $12 and $25 in Philippine pesos.

”According to the rescued minors, the suspect would take nude photos of them … and have sexual relations with them,” Inspector Bautista said.

Mr Andrada picked up Mr Munro from Cebu airport on July 5 and he was scheduled to leave the country on July 26, police said.

Immigration records show Mr Munro has been a regular visitor to the Philippines since 2011, usually staying for 21 days, police said.

Mr Munro has been charged with human trafficking and child abuse, laws where an accused cannot be bailed if prosecutors allege they have strong evidence.