Catholic Priest Tells Court He Has No Recollection of Student He Allegedly Molested
By Nick McLaren
MAP: Bellambi 2518 A Catholic priest and former teacher has given evidence in court he has no recollections of the person he allegedly indecently assaulted 27 years ago. On the second and final day of the hearing at Albion Park Local Court, Father Patrick Kervin said he taught commerce to the alleged victim in the 1980s, and recognised his own signature on the student's report. But apart from that, he said he had no recollection of what the student looked like, and rejected allegations he used the school public address system to call the student to his office. Fr Kervin also denied indecently assaulting the then 15-year old. Defence lawyer Peter Skinner sought unsuccessfully to have the case dismissed before his client took the stand. In summarising, Mr Skinner told the court the accused "may be acting under the delusion he was assaulted by my client, but that's not good enough," and referred to a number of apparent inconsistencies in the testimony. The basis of the case put to the court on an earlier date, revolved around first person testimony recreating events at the time and how he was treated by the church, the police and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The court heard at the time he was a Year 10 student who was feeling vulnerable due to his mother's recent hospitalisation. The former student also previously told the court he was assaulted by another priest in whilst in primary school. The other priest was named in court and today had a lawyer present in an effort to lodge a suppression order or non-publication order against media reporting on his name. Magistrate Susan McGowan rejected the application. A judgement on the case is expected to be handed down at Kiama Local Court on December 9.
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