A Catholic schoolboy was assaulted in Sydney, police allege

Broken Rites
January 23, 2016

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/390

In January 2016, police have charged two men (now elderly) regarding sexual offences (including buggery) which allegedly were committed fifty years ago against an 11-year-old Catholic schoolboy in Liverpool, a suburb in south-western Sydney. These offences allegedly occurred at a church-owned address after school had finished for the day. Details will become clearer during court proceedings later in 2015. Until the late 1980s, Catholic boys in Liverpool were taught by Patrician Brothers, who lived nearby in a Brothers' residence in George Street, Liverpool. The Brothers had access to facilities provided by a nearby girls' school (then known as St Mary's but now called All Saints). Liverpool detectives want to hear from any former students (at either the girls' or boys' school) who can assist in this investigation. Nowadays, Liverpool's Catholic boys and girls are taught by lay teachers.

The charges in 2016 were laid after Liverpool detectives received information from one former student, a male, who alleged that the assaults on him occurred in 1974. One alleged offender, who was in his twenties in 1974, is charged with four assaults against this boy. The other alleged offender, who was in his late thirties in 1974, is charged with being "an accessory after the fact" (legally this can mean, for example, that after an offence was committed by one man, a second man had some knowledge about the first man's offence).

On 22 January 2016, the New Wales Police issued the following media release:

"Liverpool Police have charged two men with historical sexual assaults at a Catholic educational facility dating back to the 1970s.

"Following the receipt of information from the Royal Commission into Institutional Sex Abuse, investigators from Liverpool Local Area Command commenced inquiries into the alleged sexual assaults at the facility on George Street.

"Police will allege that in 1974, the 11-year-old boy who was in Year Five at the time, was assaulted after school had finished for the day.

"1. On Thursday 21 January 2016, a 77-year-old man attended Wyong Police Station. He was later charged with indecent assault upon a male (x 3) and buggery. The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on 2 March 2016.

"2. On Friday 22 January 2016, an 89-year-old man attended Mt Druitt Police Station. He was later charged with buggery (accessory after the fact). The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on 2 March 2016.

"Police have appealed for anyone who might have additional information about these or similar incidents at the facility to come forward immediately. Anyone with information should contact Liverpool Detectives on 02 9821 8440 during office hours or Crime Stoppers at anytime.

"Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

"Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages."

Broken Rites has researched the evolution of Catholic schools in Liverpool.

About 1880, an order of nuns (the Sisters of Charity) developed a parish primary school (then named St Mary's), catering for boys and girls, in George Street, Liverpool.

In 1954, the Patrician Brothers came to Liverpool to cater for boys. The Sisters of Charity provided a classroom in George Street for the Patrician Brothers and a playground for the boys. 

Thus, the boys' school and the girls' school were closely associated. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the nuns even provided a hot mid-day meal for the first group of Brothers. A Brother might be seen walking anywhere around the campus, including in the girls' school.

During the 1960s, the Patrician Brothers boys' school was gradually expanded on nearby land (provided by the Sisters of Charity), and the Brothers began to live in a "Monastery" in George Street, near the girls' school.

In the 1960s, when Liverpool's population was booming with new immigrants from other countries, the Patrician Brothers began expanding their secondary-level classes in Liverpool (at the rear of George Street, along Bigge Street), although they still kept some primary-level classes (Years 5 and 6).

By 1964, the Monastery in George Street accommodated eight Patrician Brothers.

In 1966 the Patrician Brothers in Liverpool had 479 students (mostly secondary, plus primary Years 5 and 6), with six Brothers in the secondary section, two in the primary and three lay teachers. The school continued its primary Years 5 and 6 until 1990.

By the 1990s, the Brothers and nuns in Liverpool had been replaced gradually by lay teachers. In 2015, the boys' secondary school amalgamated with the adjacent girls' school and became known as All Saints College.