APS President Ros Knight

Just when you thought you had heard it all…

On 2 June 2020, ABC News reported that Bob Montgomery has plead guilty to anally raping three 12-year-old boys during the 1960s, and he faces up to 14 years in prison. Once again, Australia’s mainstream newspapers failed to mention that Montgomery was a former President of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

On 2 June 2020, the current APS President issued the following statement to its 24,000+ member psychologists regarding Bob Montgomery:

A statement from the President regarding Bob Montgomery

Dear [Member Psychologist]

Many of you may be aware of today’s media coverage regarding psychologist Bob Montgomery, who has plead guilty to child sex offences while he was a scoutmaster in Sydney in the 1960s.

Bob Montgomery has formally resigned his membership with the APS.

The APS Board wishes to acknowledge the courage displayed by the victims and their families. We hope the legal process brings some resolution.

This news may be triggering both for APS members, and for those within our communities who have a trauma history. We urge you to reach out and seek support if you are experiencing these triggers and to remember that self-care is incredibly important during such times.

We acknowledge that some APS members may be long term friends and supporters of Bob Montgomery and his family, prior to this case emerging. Whilst the APS does not condone in any way Mr Montgomery’s behaviours, we wish to acknowledge the impact of current proceedings on him and his family’s mental health and hope they are seeking support from these friends through this process.

Yours sincerely

Ros Knight FAPS
President

It is abhorrent for an APS President to acknowledge the impact on both the victims and their rapist in the same breath. Expressing sympathy for the rapist in this way makes any acknowledgment of the victim hollow.

The following day (3 June 2020), the current APS President issued a follow-up statement regarding Bob Montgomery, obviously in response to a national backlash of criticism from its member psychologists, many of whom work with child sex abuse victims.

Follow up statement from the President regarding Bob Montgomery

Dear [Member Psychologist]

Yesterday I issued a statement to APS members about psychologist Bob Montgomery.

I have received and appreciated your heartfelt feedback to this communiqué.

The APS takes your views very seriously. Your feedback ensures we remain accountable to you, our members.

Allow me to be absolutely clear: the APS holds a position of absolute condemnation of all forms of abuse in our society. Our position remains that all forms of child sexual abuse are a profound violation of the human rights of the child, and a crime under Australian law. It is never, ever OK.

This official position, and acknowledgement of the life-long harm and suffering that can ensue, has underpinned the APS’s active campaigning for better justice and interventions for survivors.

We extend our deepest acknowledgement of the pain and suffering experienced to the survivors of these traumas and their families. Psychologists should be the providers of comfort, support and healing, not the cause of pain. We hope that the survivors are receiving the assistance they need and deserve.

I also wish to acknowledge and commend all of you who work with and support survivors in these difficult and complex areas.

Finally, I take this opportunity to remind all psychologists of our mandatory reporting obligations under the law to report sexual offences (or any abuse) against children to the relevant child protection authorities, and to report peers to the relevant authorities if we suspect the public is at risk.

Yours faithfully

Ros Knight FAPS 

President

This statement by the APS President is consistent with the institution’s long history of child abuse denial and double speak. You can read more about this in my book which is free to down load here: Eyes Wide Open.

Looks like there’s even more to this story of coverup: