BishopAccountability.org

SA Police officer ...

news.com.au
January 22, 2015

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/sa-police-officer-tells-father-john-flemings-defamation-trial-she-felt-claims-against-him-went-nowhere-without-a-confession-from-him/story-fnii5yv4-1227192833961

Father John Fleming outside the Supreme Court.

SA Police Brevet Sergeant Melissa Worden outside the Supreme Court.

SA Police officer tells Father John Fleming’s defamation trial she felt claims against him went nowhere without a confession from him

A POLICE officer investigating unsubstantiated sex claims made against Father John Fleming agreed the case “was not going anywhere” without an admission or confession, a court has heard.

In the Supreme Court today, SA Police Brevet Sergeant Melissa Worden agreed she told Fr Fleming, during a formal 2009 interview, she felt there would be “no action” against him.

Andrew Harris, QC, for the Sunday Mail — which is being sued, by Fr Fleming, for defamation — asked Br Sgt Worden how she had approached the interview.

“When you went into this investigation, absent a confession from Fr Fleming, did you believe that it was unlikely that this matter would go further?” he asked.

“At the time you were asking (him) questions, you had a belief that, absent an admission, that it probably wasn’t going anywhere further.

“Was that your belief, that it probably wouldn’t go anywhere?”

Br Sgt Worden replied: “Yes.”

Fr Fleming’s case centres on a series of 2008 Sunday Mail articles reporting allegations he was inappropriately sexually involved with two women known as “Jane” and “Jenny”, and a man known as “Richard”.

The Sunday Mail is published by the same company as The Advertiser.

During the trial, the court heard those allegations included claims Fr Fleming had a ménage-a-trois with Jane and her friend when they were teenagers in the 1970s.

Jane has claimed in court her “role” was to service Fr Fleming’s sexual needs until marriage.

She said she and her friend were “children playing silly games” when they shared the “goal to seduce” Fr Fleming.

Jenny has claimed that, as a teenager, she noticed Fr Fleming was ejaculating when he asked her to massage his shoulders.

Richard has claimed he and Fr Fleming performed mutual sex acts “on at least a dozen occasions” and the priest asked him to say there was “never penetration”.

Fr Fleming has denied all allegations, asserting they are false and were a “material cause” in the termination of his position with Catholic liberal arts institute Campion College.

The priest, who has ministered for both the Anglican and Catholic Churches in his career, said he would “never in a fit” have sex with multiple partners.

He denied he told Richard that, without penetration, sex acts between males were “just two blokes mucking around”.

His counsel, meanwhile, asserted Jenny had “thrown herself” at the priest and was “chasing him” for a relationship.

Fr Fleming also denied he had discussed the ménage-a-trois allegations with Monsignor David Cappo, dubbing the senior clergyman’s recollections “absolutely wrong” and “creative writing”

Monsignor Cappo, however, gave evidence that the conversation did take place and said he recalled it “clearly” because he did not know how to spell “ménage-a-trois”.

Fr Fleming subsequently conceded his memory of the conversation “was faulty”, but said he and Monsignor Cappo were discussing a different, unrelated rumour of a ménage-a-trois.

The court has also heard evidence from Jane’s former friend who said claims of a sexual encounter were “absolutely untrue” and the incident had not happened “at all”.

Today, the court heard Br Sgt Worden had taken a statement from Richard prior to her interview with Fr Fleming.

Mr Harris then read a section of the transcript of that interview.

“What will happen from here, as I said, you are not under arrest or anything like that,” Br Sgt Worden says in the transcript.

“This matter gets reviewed and at this stage I believe that it will be filed ... there will be no further action against you, okay, but I can’t give you an affirmative answer.”

Br Sgt Worden agreed the transcript was accurate.

The trial continues.




.


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