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Christian Brother L.C. McAllen abused Sydney schoolboys

Some Australian men, now advancing in age, are still feeling the injustice of having been abused by Christian Brother L.C. McAllen when they were primary-school pupils in Sydney many years ago. McAllen died in 1965, but he has not been forgotten (or forgiven) by his victims. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 21 October 2016.)

The Christian Brothers covered up this 1989 case involving Brother Obbens but Broken Rites exposed it

For several years, Broken Rites has been doing research about Christian Brother William John Obbens (known as Brother "Dominic" Obbens), who was convicted in court in 1989 for sexually abusing a boy (let's call him "Gus") at St Patrick’s College, Goulburn, in south-western New South Wales. The Christian Brothers covered-up the crime and the 1989 court case. They did not tell the school's students or parents about it and did not ask if any victims needed help. "Gus" (and several other victims from the same school) went on to have a damaged adult life. Gradually, each of these families contacted Broken Rites, and this article began to take shape, with occasional updates. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 13 October 2016.)

The church carefully left no "paper trail" regarding these abusive priests

One of Australia's most prominent Catholic officials, Father Brian Lucas, avoided preserving any written notes from his "in-house" interviews with a number of abusive priests, a New South Wales State Government inquiry has been told. Therefore, police have been prevented from using any such notes in charging these priests with any crimes. This tactic protected the priests from police prosecution and helped the church to avoid bad publicity.

Broken Rites helped to expose this cover-up in western Sydney

In the 1990s, Broken Rites helped to reveal sexual abuse of young people by Catholic priests in the St Gerard Majella religious order in western Sydney. Two decades later, on 15 September 2016, this religious order was mentioned at a public hearing of Australia's national child-abuse Royal Commission. This Broken Rites article gives the background of the St Gerard Majella Society.

An archbishop excused this priest's pastoral abuse

In early 2010 the international media became interested in how the Catholic hierarchy has traditionally "managed" the problem of church sexual abuse. As a case-study, this Broken Rites article examines how the Sydney archdiocese handled a priest (Father Terence Goodall) who allegedly sexualised his pastoral relationships.

 

A BoysTown ex-pupil receives a settlement many years later

Male victims who were sexually abused at "Boys Town" (a Catholic "home" for disadvantaged youngsters at Beaudesert in Queensland) are currently going public with their story, thus exposing the church's cover-up that silenced them in the past. Broken Rites is helping these victims to obtain justice.

This victim got his sex-abuse allegations raised in Parliament

In 1963-1970 Christian Brother William Stuart Houston worked at St Augustine's orphanage, Geelong, Victoria. In 1997 the Geelong Magistrates Court ordered Houston to stand trial at the Victorian County Court for sexual offences allegedly committed against one boy (surnamed F*****) at the orphanage in the 1960s but, for legal reasons, the County Court case concerning this boy did not proceed. However, in 1999, a member of the Victorian Parliament made a speech in the Legislative Assembly, telling this boy's story. (Posted by a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 16 May 2016.).

The church accepts an altar boy's complaint about Fr Ray Whitehouse

Church accepts complaint about Fr Ray Whitehouse: After action by Broken Rites, the Melbourne Catholic archdiocese has accepted a complaint from a former altar boy who was sexually assaulted by Father Raymond Whitehouse on several Sundays after Mass (posted 24 July 2010).

Father James Barry Whelan is mentioned in a Melbourne court case

A woman named Anne was sexually exploited by Catholic priest Father James Barry Whelan, the woman's barrister has alleged in an Australian court. The priest sought sexual rewards for trying to save the woman's job, the barrister alleged.

Priest was caught filming naked boys while they showered

Broken Rites has done research about a Catholic priest, John Charles Houston (born 3 March 1955), who admitted in a New South Wales court that he had filmed boys while they were showering during a surf lifesaving carnival (article updated 12 May 2011).

This priest, Edmund John Haines, was caught with child porn on his phone

An Australian Catholic priest, Edmund John Haines, committed child-sex crimes but he was caught when someone found child porn on the priest's mobile phone, a court has been told. Broken Rites has researched Father Haines's life of crime. (Article updated 27 April 2009.)

These orphanage boys were abused by the "Christian Buggers"

Child-abuse at four Catholic orphanage-type institutions was so bad (and was so well covered-up) that the Christian Brothers earned a reputation many years ago as the "Christian Buggers", Australia's national child-abuse Royal Commission was told during public hearings in April-May 2014. 

First cover-up prosecution in Australia

In August 2012, in what is believed to be the first such case in Australia, police charged a senior Catholic priest (Father Thomas Brennan, 74, of New South Wales), with failing to report the alleged child-sex crimes of another priest. Brennan was scheduled to appear in court on 25 September 2012 but was "too ill" to come to court and he died five days later. Thus the Catholic Church was saved from some embarrassing revelations about cover-up of church crimes (article updated 2 October 2012).

This priest assaulted girls — and the church kept giving him more victims

Australia's national child-abuse Royal Commission has been told how the Catholic Church allowed a priest, Father Martin Newbold, to commit sex-crimes against young girls. The church concealed his crimes from the police and transferred him from one Australian state to another to protect him. Thus the church inflicted this criminal on more victims in new parishes. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 13 April 2016.)

This priest conducted pastoral care and religious education at a Catholic school

An Australian Catholic priest — Father Michael Ambrose Endicott — was convicted in 2010 for offences allegedly committed in the 1970s against Brisbane schoolboys. According to statements in court, Father Endicott was in charge of "pastoral care" and "religious education" at Brisbane's Villanova Catholic College during the 1970s. Using his priestly authority, Father Endicott would order a boy to pose for a naked photograph while on an excursion in bushland. Endicott faced a similar charge in 2019 but he successfully appealed against the 2019 charge. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 1 April 2019.)

An archbishop is facing court, charged with cover-up

To read about Archbishop Philip Wilson, click HERE.

Broken Rites exposes a cover-up: How the church concealed a priest's crimes

Broken Rites has revealed how a Catholic Church leader, Monsignor Patrick Cotter, covered up the crimes of one of Australia's worst pedophile priests, Father Vincent Gerard Ryan. (Article updated by a Broken Rites researcher, 6 August 2010.)

 

A former Marist Brother in court proceedings in Sydney

When he was a Marist Brother in the late 1980s (then aged in his mid-twenties), Brother Brett O'Connor worked at two boys' schools in Sydney — St Joseph's College in Hunters Hill and St Gregory's College in Campbelltown. Then he left the Marist Order and began a new career elsewhere. In 2015, police charged O'Connor in NSW Local Courts with child-sex offences relating to the late 1980s when he was a Marist Brother at those two Sydney schools. O'Connor pleaded not guilty to the charges. In early 2016, a magistrate decided that the case should proceed to a judge in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court. The final outcome of the District Court process is not yet known. (Article dated 1 October 2017.)

Catholic Church appointed a child-abuser as its spokesman in Queensland

High-profile Brisbane Catholic priest Father Paul McLachlan — the television face of the Catholic Church in Queensland for many years — was jailed in October 2000 for child-sex crimes. This prompted more victims to come forward, and he was given an increased jail sentence in July 2001. In 2015, McLachlan (now aged 82) has been charged with additional offences, committed against another child forty years ago. The 2015 charges are mentioned near the end of this article. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 17 November 2015.)

Paedophile priest Terry Pidoto dies just before his court case

Father Terrence Pidoto, who has already been in jail for committing sexual crimes against boys in parishes around Melbourne, was scheduled to face the Melbourne County Court again on 20 November 2015, charged with additional child-sex offences after some more of his victims contacted the detectives in the Victoria Police sex-crime squad.But he died in mid-November (from health problems) and now his victims will not achieve justice. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 20 November 2015)

This priest (an Archbishop's secretary) pleaded guilty

Father Raymond Deal, who was once the private secretary to former Melbourne Archbishop Frank Little, has admitted committing a sex offence that involved a breach of trust. And ex-Archbishop Little gave the priest a glowing "character" reference in court. (By a Broken Rites researcher)

A priest is in court on a child-sex charge re a NSW South Coast school

A Catholic priest, Father Patrick Kervin, 58, is facing court in New South Wales, charged with an indecent assault of a schoolboy, allegedly committed 27 years ago. Father Kervin is a member of an Australia-wide religious order, the Society of Mary (also known as the Marist Fathers). Father Kervin has worked at Catholic schools near Wollongong and Lismore (New South Wales) and also in Tasmania. The charge relates to Holy Spirit College, at Bellambi, near Wollongong, in the 1980s. More recently, he ministered at St Patrick's Presbytery (Church Hill) in the Rocks area in central Sydney. (Article updated on 19 October 2015.)

Father Glen Boyd leaves the priesthood in Wagga Catholic diocese

An Australian priest, Father Glenn Boyd, left the ministry of the Wagga Wagga Catholic Diocese (in southern New South Wales) in 2004, following queries about his youth work. (Article posted 12 February 2009).

A priest leaves jail, then back in court again (and again) on more child-abuse charges

In March 2015, Victorian Catholic priest Father Leslie Sheahan was jailed for three months for indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl in one of his parishes forty years ago. After the media reported this court case, more victims contacted the Victoria Police. In July 2015, immediately after leaving jail, Sheahan was charged in court again with indecently assaulting two more girls from another of his early parishes, and the court convicted him again. On 22 August 2016, Sheahan (aged 85) was in court again, where he was convicted of indecently assaulting another girl in one of those early parishes. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 24 August 2016.)

A prominent Marist Brother is jailed — 40 years after the crime

One of the Marist Brothers' most senior educators in Australia, Brother Peter Pemble, was jailed on 23 July 2015 (aged 67) for a child-sex crime which he committed 40 years earlier when he was in his twenties. In court, Pemble pleaded guilty to the offence, which was committed against a junior boy in a Marist school at Maitland (in the Hunter region, north of Sydney) in the early 1970s. Eventually, Brother Peter Pemble became the principal of several Catholic schools in Sydney. The victim finally spoke to police, 40 years after the crime, because he still feels hurt by the sexual abuse and the cover-up. (Article updated 23 July 2015.)

The Melbourne archdiocese excused a priest's abuse of power

The Melbourne archdiocese allowed a priest (Father Graham Redfern) to continue in the priesthood after a church investigation found that the priest had sexually abused a teenager while the youth was in a vulnerable state, grieving over his mother's death. The abuse allegedly began after the priest had performed the funeral service of the youth's mother. Evidently the archdiocese did not regard Father Redfern's breach of priestly power as serious enough to dismiss a priest.

An ex-priest from Moree/Armidale NSW (name suppressed in an Armidale court) has been ordered to face a higher court on 76 sex-abuse charges

A former Catholic priest (from Moree and Armidale in northern New South Wales) faced 76 sex-abuse charges in the Armidale Local Court in 2012-2014. The charges involved offences which he allegedly committed against boys and girls. For legal reasons, the Armidale magistrate imposed a media-suppression order, prohibiting publication of the ex-priest's name (at present) in relation to these Armidale Local Court charges. The ex-priest pleaded "Guilty" to 45 of these charges, and he will eventually be sentenced on those. He pleaded "Not Guilty" to 31 other charges, and these contested charges are scheduled to go to trial in a higher court, the Sydney District Court in Sydney, beginning in early 2016. The Sydney judge will decide whether the Armidale magistrate's name-suppression order should be continued, or removed, during the Sydney District Court proceedings. Later, the ex-priest will be sentenced by the Sydney District Court regarding all the relevant charges that originated in the Armidale court, including the charges to which he has already pleaded "Guilty". Meanwhile, the ex-priest has been refused bail and he remains in custody, awaiting his court proceedings. (Article updated 29 May 2015)

Church leaders knew about Father Murray Alexander Moffat's abuse of a child

Australian Catholic Church authorities learned that Father Murray Alexander Moffat had sexually abused a 12-year-old girl but they allowed Moffat to continue in the priesthood for many years while the public did not know about the case, according to statements made in court. But eventually, at the age of 42, the victim went to the police, instead of merely to the church authorities. The police charged Moffat. In August 2010, he pleaded guilty in court and was jailed. Now that the church's secret is out, the public knowledge makes it difficult for the church to continue using Moffat in the ministry. (By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 27 August 2010).

Father David Rapson's crimes were covered up by his colleagues and superiors

While Father David Rapson was committing sexual crimes (including rape) against boys at a prominent Australian Catholic boarding school, his religious order promoted him to be the vice-principal of the school, a Melbourne court has been told. Rapson used computer games, soft drinks, alcohol and cigarettes to lure boys (as young as 12) into his office before he sexually abused them, the court was told. Rapson gave some of his victims a drink of drug-laced chocolate-milk or lemonade to make them sleepy before he sexually abused them, the court was told. (Article updated 22 August 2015)

Christian Brother John Coswello in court regarding an orphanage

In April 2015, after a committal hearing, the Melbourne Magistrates Court ordered Christian Brother John Francis Coswello (now aged 76) to stand trial. He is charged with child-sexual abuse, which allegedly occurred at St Vincent's Boys Home in South Melbourne during an early stage in Coswello's career as a Christian Brother. The trial has been placed on a waiting list for the Melbourne County Court in 2016.

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