"There Is Goodness in This Person before You"

By Marissa Calligeros
Brisbane Times
March 8, 2012

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/there-is-goodness-in-this-person-before-you-20120307-1ukdz.html

Priest admits child porn offences A Brisbane Catholic priest pleads guilty to eight counts of making child exploitation material between 2005 and 2011.

A Catholic priest has said there is still goodness in him, despite pleading guilty to making and possessing child exploitation material.

Neil Joseph Byrne, whose church was affiliated with a Brisbane primary school, admitted to having sexual fantasies about "young, blond boys", after being charged with eight counts of making child exploitation material and one count of possessing 10 images of child exploitation material.

Father Byrne, 61, requested that he address the court during his sentencing yesterday and sobbed as he pleaded for compassion from Judge Hugh Botting.

Neil Joseph Byrne. Photo: Marissa Calligeros

"[Since] I was confronted nine months ago with the matters that have been articulated in the court here today - the offences which I do not resile from, which I accept full responsibility for, and of which I am ashamed - I have been tormented by two questions," he said.

"Am I a bad person, or am I a mad person?

"I don't know whether I'm mad or not, but I am now working with people who have been able to reassure me [that I have been] a man who has been sick and denying it and refusing to give in the to the fact that I suffer from a disease, which I have been able to conceal extremely well, so much so, that people would be surprised to learn what my therapists have discovered.

"I wish to thank the many hundreds of people who have sent me cards, letters, emails and text messages to remind me of the goodness in me ...

"I have preached my whole life, the gospel of compassion and forgiveness, based on the teaching of Jesus Christ himself.

"I now find myself in a position where I must appeal for compassion and forgiveness myself.

"I place my life therefore in your hands and I hope that you will recognise there is goodness in this person before you."

The offences occurred over a six year period from August 2005, while he was a priest at The Gap Parish at St John's Wood, in Brisbane's inner-west.

Internet chat logs obtained by police show Father Byrne discussed his sexual fantasies involving children with another person online and requested photographs of a near-naked boy.

He also confessed to masturbating to the images, the court was told.

However, the Crown could not prove that his requests for images resulted in any child being harmed.

The act of describing sexual fantasies involving a person under the age of 16 falls within the definition of making child exploitation material in Queensland's criminal code.

Father Byrne was arrested by police of Task Force Argos in May 2011, after New South Wales authorities discovered he had received images of a young boy sexually abused by his parents.

Defence barrister Neville Weston told the court his client had no future as a priest, but that the church was still paying him an annual $11,500 stipend while he was on extended leave.

"The most he can hope for is that he remain on this form of extended leave until he turns 65 and after that he believes the stipend will be terminated and he will have to exist on the old-age pension," Mr Weston said.

He said Father Byrne had committed the offences while suffering from severe depression, which drove him to the pursuit of sexual gratification.

Judge Botting sentenced Father Byrne to nine months in prison, to be wholly suspended.

He said the case was not one where Father Byrne had abused his position as a priest, as his offending had related to private conversations with another adult.

"This is not a case, it seems to me, where it can be said that you have betrayed the confidence which parishioners, parents or whomever may have imposed upon you because of your priestly role," Judge Botting said.

"It does seem to me that the most obvious explanation for your conduct is rooted in your illness, which you are clearly suffering from."

Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett, leader of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, said he would refer the case to the Vatican and follow directions received about how to proceed.

“The Catholic Church condemns sexual exploitation in all its forms, especially when perpetrated against minors,” he said in a statement issued last night.

“We must continue to maintain our vigilance as a Church and society to ensure the protection and wellbeing of children everywhere."