Convicted Sex Abuser

Willi Kovac

The photos are from The Xaverian 1967.

Lay teacher - Physical training. 1966-1967 at Xavier. At Burke Hall prior to that.

1964 Burke Hall and Xavier College
1965 Burke Hall XC and Kostka Hall
1966 Burke Hall and Kostka Hall
1967 Burke Hall and Kostka Hall


Very well known among the boys as a toucher and groper at Xavier.
e.g. Boys on a camp at Wilson's Promontory were made to go naked on the beach.
Attempting to get boys to play with his penis.

Grabbing boys by the genitals as they vaulted over the horse in gym.

A former student at Kostka Hall recalls walking into the sports change room to see Kovac sucking a boy's penis. He says he thought nothing much of it and walked on by.

Was sacked from Xavier in 1967 , (because they knew of course) but given a good reference and went on to other catholic schools (Marcellin College) to continue his abuse.
Sacked in 1967 and not in the school list for 1967.
I remember talk about him doing stuff with boys, but I had nothing to do with him personally thankfully.
It must have been very well known, so not being a priest he was sacked, but must have got
a good reference from the school to be able to go on to other catholic schools,
and continue his abusive ways. (Mark P).

Former student says:
"Scunge Hawkins (the Rector) was so focused on winning the 1967 APS Sports that he continued to employ Willi Kovacs even after he knew he was a serial practising dangerous pederast feeding amongst the young boys of Xavier College - yet he Knew that Kovacs would deliver him the APS Sports winning team ... and he did - that is how competitive the Jesuits are ... and the sort of competitive nature they taught to their student boys"

from brokenrites.org.au
In Melbourne County Court in December 2005, Willi Kovac (then aged 73)
was jailed for a maximum of nine and half years' jail, with a non-parole period of 5½ years,
after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting three boys (aged between nine and fourteen) in the 1960s and 1970s.
German-born Kovac was an athletics coach at Melbourne's Xavier College and Marcellin College and
other Catholic schools and worked as a co-ordinator at summer camps for Catholic school children.
Judge Pamela Jenkins said that, since the offences, Kovac's three victims had struggled with life,
including drug and alcohol abuse and relationship breakdowns, and had under-achieved in their work-life.
These three boys were not Kovac's only victims.

He also had victims from other Catholic schools. Some victims have contacted Broken Rites.
According to information given in court in 2005, Kovac was also jailed in 1970 for indecent assault.
One prominent Catholic school sacked Kovac for his behaviour but it then breached its duty of care
by allowing him to work at other Catholic schools, putting more boys in danger.

Willi Kovac sitting next to Fr. Noel Bradford, another sex abuser.

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UPDATE: 28 July 2018.
♦ www.theage.com.au

Too frail for jail? Former Xavier coach coughs his way through hearing

Medics will assess the deteriorating health of a frail, old paedophile and former Xavier College athletics coach
as he awaits sentencing for sexually abusing schoolboys in the 1960s.

Vili Kovac, 85, raped a boy during a school camp while teaching at Marcellin College and abused another boy while coaching at Xavier College in the 1960s.
He was jailed for four years in December on those charges and later pleaded guilty to two further historical charges of indecent assault against two other boys.

Now awaiting another sentencing, Kovac faced the County Court on Friday so the judge could get a better idea of his health.
Kovac was wheeled into the dock in a wheelchair, saying "I can't walk" to a guard before coughing and spluttering throughout the hearing.
"A real issue relevant to my sentence is Mr Kovac's medical condition," Judge Susan Cohen said.
"If he's likely to deteriorate while in custody it makes the serving of a sentence more onerous."

Judge Cohen made an order for prison health authorities to compile a report on Kovac's physical and mental health over the coming weeks.
The court previously heard Kovac raped a boy in a tent at night during a camp at Wilson's Promontory.
The victim suffered in silence for decades before finally speaking out about the incident in 2014.
He told his partner about the assault after becoming aware Kovac had abused other boys.

Kovac suffers from several chronic ailments, including diabetes, heart problems and loss of vision and hearing.
There were reports he won a hurdles bronze medal for Yugoslavia at the 1960 Rome Olympics, but records show he did not compete at the Games.
Kovac grew up in Yugoslavia under Nazi rule and as a boy was subjected to a Hitler Youth program in which he searched bombed buildings for survivors.
Kovac later migrated to Australia and started teaching at Catholic schools in Melbourne.
Kovac will return to court for a further pre-sentence hearing on August 10.

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www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-07/xavier-college-teacher-sentenced-over-child-sexual-abuse/9234618
Former Xavier College teacher jailed for four years for sexually abusing teenage boys
By Emma Younger
Updated 7 Dec 2017
Police say they may lay charges after a car was damaged by students involved in muck-up day activiti
Kovac repeatedly indecently assaulted one boy while teaching at Xavier.

A convicted paedophile who taught at one of Melbourne's top private schools has been jailed for four years for sexually abusing two boys aged in their early teens.
Vili Kovac, 85, repeatedly indecently assaulted one of the boys while he was a teacher at Xavier College in the early 1960s before taking a job at Marcellin College where he raped a student on a school camp in 1968.
His first victim was not a student at Xavier College.

Kovac, who won a medal for Yugoslavia at the Rome Olympics in 1960, taught physical education at the schools after immigrating to Australia.
He befriended the vulnerable boy, who was aged between 12 and 13, before sexually abusing him on a number of occasions.
Several years later, while he was a teacher at Marcellin College, he raped a student, aged 12 or 13, on a school camp.
They were not isolated incidents. Kovac has prior convictions for sexually abusing at least seven other boys around the same period and has been diagnosed as a paedophile.

He pleaded guilty to indecent assault but did not admit a charge of buggery, forcing his second victim to give evidence at a jury trial.
In sentencing, County Court Judge Susan Cohen detailed the terrible impact the sexual abuse had had on the boys, who are now men aged in their 60s.
She said one of the men had described the offending as "turning his world upside down" while the other still suffers shame and guilt over the abuse which has affected his personal relationships, including with his grandchildren.

"While you feel some sympathy ... when you hear them describe the impact on them …you did not realise at the time that you were hurting anyone," Judge Cohen said.
Accused 'socially immature'
The court heard Kovac had no formal training as a teacher and liked socialising with boys and would bring them to his flat.
"Without teacher training, you had not been formally taught boundaries of acceptable behaviour … by teachers with students," Judge Cohen said.
"It may well be that you were confused by some of those boundaries, that you were socially immature, lacked a social circle of your own age and also that your upbringing had not exposed you to sexual education and, in particular, what was inappropriate sexual behaviour with children."

The court heard Kovac was born in Germany to Yugoslavian parents and had difficultly integrating at school.
He was obliged to join the Hitler Youth program as a teenager and was tasked with searching bombed buildings for survivors during World War II.
But Judge Cohen said despite Kovac's difficult youth, he must have known his offending was unacceptable.
The elderly man now suffers from multiple chronic illnesses, blindness and has had a number of falls.
He also has chronic anxiety, depression and advancing dementia.

Judge Cohen told the court it was extremely unlikely Kovac would be able to reoffend due to his ill health and social isolation.
"You're now facing sentence for these offences as an elderly infirm man likely to endure imprisonment much more onerously," she said.
Kovac will be eligible for parole in a year.
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SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA
COURT OF APPEAL
No. 373 of 2005

The facts
3 The offences occurred during various periods between December 1963 and
November 1980. The appellant was 31 in 1963, and 48 in 1980. He is now 74 years
old. Two of the boys, MB and JL, were students at schools where the appellant
taught physical education. The youngest victim, PR, was introduced to the appellant
by a “street kid” who was allegedly paid to provide sexual services to men in the
offender’s home.


Counts involving the victim MB

4 The offences covered by counts one to three occurred between 1963 and 1964.
In 1963, the appellant was a physical education teacher at a Melbourne school and
MB was his student. When MB was 11 or 12 years old, he attended a summer camp
at Wilson’s Promontory, at which the appellant was a supervisor. Counts one and
two are representative counts covering acts of fondling and fellatio of MB, which
occurred while the appellant was playing hide and seek and other “games” with the
victim at the camp.

5 Count three is a discrete count which covers acts which occurred following

R v. Kovac 2 NEAVE, J.A.

some of the acts of fondling and fellatio covered by count two. The appellant placed
his erect penis between MB’s upper thighs, underneath his scrotum and began
masturbating by moving up and down. This continued until the appellant moved
away and ejaculated on the ground.


6 Count four was another discrete count involving MB. During the school
holidays in May or September of 1964, or possibly in the summer holidays of
1964/1965, the appellant telephoned MB at home, and asked him to go bowling. MB
accepted, and the appellant took him to a bowling alley in the area. After bowling,
the appellant drove MB to a semi-rural area along the Hume Highway in
Craigieburn, where he pulled the car over to the side of the road. The appellant told
MB to pull down his pants and fellated MB until he ejaculated.


7 The sentences of imprisonment imposed for these counts were as follows:
count one (which was a representative count) - two years;
count two (also a representative count) - three years and six
months;
count three (a discrete count) - 18 months; and
count four (also a discrete count) - 18 months.
Counts involving the victim JL


8 Counts five and six were representative counts relating to offences committed
in 1968 when JL was 12 and 13 years old. JL was a student at a school where the
appellant was a physical education teacher. He became a favourite of the appellant
and was given various privileges. The appellant began to offer JL lifts home from
school. The first time that the appellant drove JL home from school, he showed JL
pornographic pictures and magazines. He did the same thing on a number of other
occasions.

9 The offences involved acts of fondling and fellatio performed by the appellant
on JL. In addition to the occasions covered by counts five and six there were at least
another four occasions on which this type of sexual contact occurred between the
appellant and JL, whilst the appellant was driving JL home.


10 Count seven was a discrete count covering an offence committed while JL was
at a camp where the appellant was one of the supervising adults. There was a small
celebration on the last night of the camp. The appellant, who was the only adult
present, supplied alcohol to JL and other boys.

The appellant encouraged JL to drink
from a bottle of spirits and JL became drunk. At the appellant’s request, JL sat next
to him. The appellant pulled JL on top of him, pulled down his pants, and
positioned himself so that his penis was between JL’s buttocks. The appellant then
moved him up and down until ejaculation.


Counts involving the victim PR

12 Counts eight and nine are both representative counts covering acts of fondling
and fellatio upon PR, which occurred during the period between 1978 and 1980,
when PR was between nine and 10 years old.

PR lived at a boarding house in St
Kilda with his mother, who was an alcoholic, and his younger brother. His family
was in a difficult financial situation. PR was friends with a young boy known as
CM. CM told PR that he was being paid money in return for sexual services
provided to men at the appellant’s home.


13 One day PR was taken to the appellant’s home by CM. The appellant played
a video depicting homosexual pornography, before approaching PR, hugging him,
and kissing him on the lips. PR moved away, and told the appellant that he did not
like to be kissed. The appellant then rubbed PR’s genital area and tried to fellate
him. After PR refused the appellant gave him $5, and told him to come back again.

Count eight covered these acts.


14 CM and PR came to the appellant’s house on another occasion because they
needed money. When they arrived, the appellant told them to go to a bedroom at
the back of the house.
In the bedroom there was another man sitting on the bed,

who commenced kissing and undressing CM, before performing oral sex on him.
15 PR got undressed and lay down on the bed next to CM. Count nine relates to
acts of fondling and fellatio by the appellant to PR on that occasion. The appellant
paid PR $20 for this encounter.


16 On another occasion, PR went to the appellant’s home with another friend,
TL. On this occasion the appellant paid PR 10 valium pills for allowing himself to be
fondled and fellated.