BishopAccountability.org
 
  Australia Priest Denies Sexual Abuse Claims

By Bonnie Malkin
The Telegraph
September 14, 2011

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8761827/Australia-priest-denies-sexual-abuse-claims.html

Mr Xenophon said the Church had given him 'no choice' but to speak out Photo: AP

Ian Dempsey was named by senator Nick Xenophon under Australian parliamentary privilege, after the Catholic Church in South Australia refused to bow to demands made by Mr Xenophon to stand him down and investigate the allegations.

Mr Xenophon told a late sitting of the senate on Tuesday that Monsignor Dempsey had been accused, along with two other men who were now dead, of abusing Archbishop John Hepworth for 15 years, starting when he was aged 12.

Responding to the allegation, Monsignor Dempsey issued a short statement saying: "I categorically deny the allegations which I note are said to relate to events that occurred some 45 years ago, and they have nothing at all to do with underage people."

"Firstly I wish to state I am aware of John Hepworth's unsubstantiated allegations against me through an inquiry instigated by the Archbishop of Adelaide.

"As the inquiry is ongoing I have nothing further to say apart from denying the allegations."

The Church has also condemned Mr Xenophon's controversial decision to name the priest as "inappropriate and unfair".

The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Mr Xenophon's action, saying he was "aware of the extremely sensitive and highly complex" background to the matter.

But Mr Xenophon has said he stands by his decision.

"Rape is rape as a matter of criminal law, therefore any allegation of sexual acts without consent is something that needs to be taken very seriously by anyone who has those allegations brought to them," he said.

Archbishop Hepworth, who was trained and ordained as a Catholic but shifted to the Anglican church in the 1970s, first raised allegations of sexual abuse with the Church in 2007.

He is understood to be the most senior church figure to reveal he was a victim of clerical sexual abuse.

The 67-year-old has not yet sought to bring criminal charges over the case, although police said they have spoken with him about the allegations.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.