Paedophile dance teacher Grant Davies' sister 'failed to see red flags'.

By MAZOE FORD and THOMAS ORITI.

The co-founder of a Sydney dance school has told an inquiry she should have done more to prevent her brother, Grant Davies, from molesting children.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is this week inquiring into the experiences of students at RG Dance, and is also looking at how staff responded to concerns and complaints about Grant Davies behaviour.

Rebecca Davies founded RG Dance in 2002 with her now convicted paedophile brother.

Grant Davies pleaded guilty last September to 47 counts of child sexual abuse, relating to dancers as young as nine between 2009 and 2013.

Ms Davies has admitted she failed to see the “red flags” that indicated her brother was sexually abusing children.

“I was a grown woman, and I was a teacher, and I was well educated,” she told the inquiry.

“There’s so many things that I wish I’d done better and I know it was my responsibility to do better.”

Ms Davies was asked about an incident in early 2002 in which her brother had a student close to him and if she recalled telling him he could not touch children like that.

She said she did not recall the incident – but also did not deny it.

“Again another example of how I failed to do the right thing in seeing this as a red flag of paedophilia and a grooming situation,” she told the inquiry.

Counsel assisting David Lloyd suggested to Ms Davies that the “culture” of RG Dance was part of the problem.

“Do you accept this proposition? That part of the culture of RG Dance, which led to the sexualisation of children, was through the costumes they were wearing at performances, and the uniform and the dance moves that they were performing?” Mr Lloyd asked.

Ms Davies answered: “I absolutely disagree. Grant’s abuse and the perceived sexualisation of the students to me is a separate issue.”

Ms Davies has been accused of knowing about her brother’s behaviour for years, but today denied she was trying to protect him.

Mr Lloyd: “Isn’t the real concern that you had that repeated evidence of boundary violations might well point to the possibility of paedophilia?”

Ms Davies: “I know that now, regretfully.”

Mr Lloyd: “Did you think about that then?”

Ms Davies: “I did not, foolishly.”

Mr Lloyd: “Do you think you should have?”

Ms Davies: “Absolutely, sorry.”

Davies was married for 12 years by the time he was arrested and earlier his ex-wife told the royal commission he was controlling and violent towards her at home, and made her feel like she was “the crazy one”.

The dance teacher’s ex-wife, who is a primary school teacher, said she repeatedly told her then-husband that she thought he was crossing boundaries with his students, by touching and hugging them inappropriately and messaging them online after class.

“I gave him my view point as a teacher and told him it was inappropriate as it was not something I would ever do, [but] Grant shut me down as usual,” the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the royal commission.

“I ended up feeling as though I was the crazy one – I ended up feeling like I was being silly.

“He made me feel like how could I even begin to understand, [because] the kind of relationship I had with my students was nothing compared to the elite performance level he required of his children, and I was in no position to make that judgment.”

Ex-wife sought two AVOs against Davies

Counsel assisting the inquiry David Lloyd asked about domestic violence in the couple’s marriage, and the woman said Davies did physically abuse her.

“Any arguments had the potential to turn violent… there were two occasions where an AVO (Apprehended Violence Order) was sought,” she said.

The ex-wife told the royal commission that even though Davies was emotionally and physically abusing her, she never once thought he was capable of harming a child.

“He convinced me that he was a loving father, that he genuinely cared for his students, and that be could be relied upon to have these children’s best interests at heart,” she said.

“I now believe that someone who is capable of such violence, manipulation and abuse at home should not be allowed to work with children.”

The ex-wife said the first time she heard about a complaint from a student about Davies’ behaviour was in early 2007 when he called her “sounding upset and incomprehensible” after talking with the mother of a student.

“Later when he came home, I tried to find out what happened. Grant was still distraught. I understood from what I could piece together was that Grant had been having an instant messenger chat with [a student],” she told the inquiry.

“He told her about a dream he had had about a threesome involving him [the student] and another student.”

Davies promised the girl’s family he would take some time away from the studio to seek psychological help, but his ex-wife told the royal commission he did not see a psychologist.

A week later Davies returned RG Dance Studio claiming to be better.

Davies disposed of computer before police raid

In May 2007, NSW Police raided Davies’ home looking for computer evidence and his ex-wife today said Davies refused to answer any police questions to identify which computer was his.

A statement from Davies to the royal commission provides no detail about his sexual abuse offences, but the dance teacher does admit he “disposed of my computer” at least one week before the police raid.

Davies’ ex-wife told the inquiry that one night in April 2013 when she was home alone, she read “sexually explicit” chat messages that popped up on his computer.

“There were messages in which Grant was saying, ‘delete the messages so your mum doesn’t see’, and references to kissing,” she said.

“It seemed to me that Grant was grooming [the student] – I also found various photos of [the student] wearing a G-string.”

The ex-wife printed the message stream and took it to show members of Davies’ family, and they all went to police in May 2013.

“I believe that the authorities who had knowledge of both his domestic violence and of the full nature of the allegations laid against him in 2007 did not do enough to protect those around him,” the ex-wife said.

“I believe the system failed us by not informing us of the danger they knew he posed.”

This post originally appeared on ABC News.