BishopAccountability.org
 
 

How Father Finian Egan Was Caught. the inside Story

Broken Rites
December 20, 2013

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/165

Child-abuser Father Finian Egan was supported by the Catholic Church and powerful friends but he was finally brought to justice by three of his victims, with help from Broken Rites.

Egan, who sexually assaulted children from his parishes on multiple occasions during his long career in Sydney, has been sentenced to at least four years' jail.

Three women who were sexually abused as children by Egan have slammed the Catholic Church for harbouring him in the priesthood for five decades.

Egan had been found guilty of seven counts of indecent assault and one count of rape in relation to attacks on these three girls, who were aged 10 to 17, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in Sydney and on the New South Wales central coast.

Egan was sentenced on 20 December 2013.

Broken Rites knows that these three women were not the only complainants against Egan. This trial was confined to female complainants, and it covered only these three women who agreed to take part in the prosecution. A fourth woman exercised her right to opt out of the proceedings. And Broken Rites knows about a male alleged victim. There is more about the Broken Rites research later in this article.

Guilty verdict

On 4 November 2013, a jury returned the Guilty verdicts against Egan in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.

Finian James Egan worked as a priest at Leichhardt and Carlingford (suburbs in Sydney), and at The Entrance (north of Sydney on the Central Coast).

The court was told that he targeted girls aged between 10 and 17 in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Egan, aged 78 in 2013, pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The court was told that Egan is still officially a priest, although (now in his late seventies) he has retired from being in charge of a parish.

The police investigation was conducted by Eastwood Detectives Office, Sydney.

Impact statements

Before sentencing Egan, the court heard submissions from the prosecution and the defence - and from the victims. In a pre-sentence hearing on 16 December 2013, each of the three women entered the witness box to make impact statements to the court, describing how this church-related abuse had disrupted their lives. They described the guilt, shame, pain and fear they have been forced to endure during their adult lives.

One woman, now in her 60s, was indecently assaulted by Egan on multiple occasions when she was sent at the age of ten to St Martha's School for disadvantaged girls in Leichhardt (in Sydney's inner-west) in the early 1960s.

''Father Egan pulled me on to his knee, he put his hands up my dress, pulled down my underwear and put his hands into my vagina,'' the victim said of the incident, which occurred in the church's sacristy.

She told the nuns what was happening but they accused her of lying and subjected her to violent punishments, including forcing her to drink vomit-inducing doses of castor oil, for speaking wicked things about a priest.

"I was a 10-year-old child who needed to be cared for, but instead I was manipulated, abused, punished and humiliated," the woman told the court through her tears.

Another woman said Egan took away her childhood, her innocence and her trust in people.

"Father Egan took away the chance for me to experience my first kiss with a boy, my first sexual experience," the woman said, adding Egan was like a member of her family who then abused her under her mother's nose.

A third woman told the court that she refuses to be labelled as a victim.

"I'm not a victim. I'm a survivor," the woman said.

She told the court that her Catholic mother had disowned her, blaming the child for not stopping the abuse.

"Still to this day I'm being crucified for what he has done," the woman said.

"I'm here today to lay the blame where it belongs: at the feet of the pedophile sitting in front of you."

Broken Rites research

Broken Rites first heard of Father Finian Egan in January 2003, when we were contacted by one of his victims. Five years later, in 2008, Broken Rites was contacted by a second Egan victim and later by a third, fourth, fifth and sixth victim. These six victims were from several parishes. They were of various ages. They did not know each other. And they contacted Broken Rites separately, not knowing that Broken Rites had received previous complaints about Egan.

Broken Rites began doing research on this priest. Broken Rites found that Finian James Egan was born in Ireland in the mid-1930s. He was ordained in Ireland on 14 June 1959 and was among a significant number of Irish priests who were exported to Australia around that time.

Broken Rites traced Egan's movements in the annual editions of the Australian Catholic Directory. Egan spent his career as a diocesan priest in the Sydney metropolitan area. Broken Rites found that one of his early postings, as an assistant priest, was in the Leichhardt North parish (this is listed in the 1961 edition of the Directory).

His next parishes included, for example, Cronulla (St Aloysius) and Fairfield (Our Lady of the Rosary).

His later work included parishes at, for example, The Entrance (Our Lady of the Rosary) and Narrabeen (St Joseph's).

For twenty years, from 1979 to 1999 he was the Parish Priest in charge of St Gerard Majella parish, Carlingford. He took an interest in the "Antioch" youth group in that parish.

In the 1980s the Sydney archdiocese became divided into smaller dioceses, and Fr Finian Egan then came under the new Broken Bay diocese, comprising Sydney's northern suburbs (plus the Central Coast), while the Sydney archdiocese became confined to the south side of the Harbour.

The 1988 Australian Catholic directory stated that Fr F.J. Egan was the secretary of the Clergy Remuneration and Retirement Fund in the Broken Bay Diocese. (This enhanced his significance among his fellow priests.)

Finian Egan retired from full-time parish work in 1999. In the 2000 Australian Catholic directory, he was listed for the Broken Bay diocese — as a "supplementary priest". He is still listed as a "supplementary priest" in the latest edition of the annual Directory, published in mid-2013.

Priests who are listed publicly as "supplementary" are still presumed by the public to be available for weddings, funerals and other freelance work, including sometimes acting as a relieving priest for another priest who is away.

A church website said that, even after retiring from full-time work, Fr Finian Egan continued to "have a presence" at the Carlingford parish.

Father Finian Egan was also associated with a church group (the Serra Club) which seeks to attract new recruits to the priesthood. A church website said in 2007: "Fr Finian Egan will be celebrating Mass for Serra [Club] on Wednesday 22nd August 2007 at the Catholic Parish of Waitara, Our Lady of the Rosary Church, and will be our guest speaker."

According to a church website, the objective of the Serra Club is "to foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood of the Catholic Church."

New South Wales government

At Fr Finian Egan’s final parish (St Gerard’s parish in Carlingford), his parishioners included Gregory Eugene Smith, a lawyer who was elected in March 2007 as the Liberal Party’s member for the metropolitan seat of Epping in the New South Wales parliament. When Barry O’Farrell’s Liberal Party government came into office in NSW in 2011, Greg Smith became the Attorney General, putting him in charge of the state’s legal affairs.

In his inaugural speech in the NSW Parliament in 2007, Greg Smith mentioned that he had been a parishioner of Fr Finian Egan at St Gerard Majella's parish at Carlingford.

Greg Smith added:

"At St Gerard's, Father Finian Egan charmed us with his Irish wit and his pastoral devotion to his flock."

Greg Smith’s website has stated:

“Greg is a man of enduring faith and commitment and has been heavily involved in the life of the Catholic Church…

“Greg was also formerly the President of NSW Right to Life…

“Greg is a Cantor at St Gerard’s Church, Carlingford…"

When Greg Smith became the Attorney-General in 2011, he appointed Damien Tudehope (a lawyer) as his chief of staff. According to media reports, Damien Tudehope had been a long-time associate of Fr Finian Egan in the Catholic community.

Damien Tudehope has been connected with the Australian Family Association. Tudehope has a great interest in family issues — he has stated that he and his wife have nine children.

Church background

In 2008, a former parishioner asked the Catholic Church authorities to investigate certain matters regarding Father Egan.

Two years later, on 17 May 2010, the church issued a media statement, confirming that this investigation had taken place.

The statement was issued by Bishop David L. Walker, who is in charge of the Broken Bay Diocese. The statement referred to matters which allegedly occurred during the 1980s.

Bishop Walker's statement said: "Fr Egan was asked to stand aside from ministry while the process [of investigation] took place. He currently remains suspended from public ministry."

Bishop Walker said that the initial process of the church's investigation "has now been completed." The bishop added: "I acknowledge that this initial process has taken some time, which may have caused additional stress to those involved."

Bishop Walker confirmed reports (made in the media) that, despite being suspended, Fr Egan had conducted Mass during his suspension without obtaining approval from the bishop.

Media reports have stated that, during his period of suspension, the Catholic Church allowed Fr Finian Egan to say Mass during a visit to Ireland. The Broken Bay Diocese did not inform the Irish church authorities that, at the time of the Ireland trip, Fr Egan was supposed to be under suspension from priestly ministry.

 

 

 

 

 




.

 
 

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