Royal Commission hears senior Anglican Church official threatened Mark King, victim of paedophile Robert Brandenberg, with legal action

By Nigel Hunt
Advertiser
February 2, 2016

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The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been told a victim was threatened with legal action if he spoke about his abuse.

A VICTIM of notorious paedophile Robert Brandenburg was threatened with legal action on two occasions by a senior Anglican Church official when he reported the abuse, an inquiry has been told.

In astonishing evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Adelaide man Mark King detailed how he reported his abuse in 1993 to then Archdeacon Brian Smith — only to be dismissed and threatened with legal action if he spoke about it to others.

Mr King, who was also abused by a Church of England Boys Society leader, fellow members and Brandenburg after he joined the Plympton branch when aged 10, said Archdeacon Smith was “aggressively defensive’’ about Brandenburg and had told him he had known him for more than 30 years.

He said Archdeacon Smith was president of CEBS when Brandenburg was the CEBS Commissioner for South Australia. Archdeacon Smith had also told him that Brandenburg had often been to his house and he vouched for his good character.

“It struck me that Archdeacon Smith and Brandenburg were close friends,’’ Mr King told the inquiry, which is sitting in Hobart.

He said Archdeacon Smith had also said to him during the meeting: “Young people often

misinterpret normal contact as something else. Are you sure that’s not the problem?” He

then said, “Well if was such a long time ago, even if it did happen what’s the point of

bringing it up now? You just need to forget and move on.”

Mr King said he felt that Archdeacon Smith was trying to minimise Brandenburg’s behaviour and had also told him: “If you think you can get money you’re wasting your time, it’s too late.”

“Be very careful who you talk to about this. We have the best lawyers and we have no hesitation in pursuing you.”

Mr Smith said at the end of the meeting Archdeacon Smith agreed to ensure that Brandenburg was not working with children and to confirm that with him.

“I had gone to see Archdeacon Smith in the hope that he would listen, believe and act. I left

the meeting feeling that I had been naive and that Archdeacon Smith already knew about

Brandenburg. Nonetheless, I still hoped Archdeacon Smith would act,’’ he told the inquiry.

Mr King said he had rung Archdeacon Smith on at least four occasions over the following eight or nine weeks after the June 1993 meeting to make sure Brandenburg had been moved out of his

campsite management role, but always felt he was being fobbed off.

On the fourth occasion, Archdeacon Smith had told him everything had been “sorted out” and that Brandenburg did not have access to children. He again warned him that the “Diocese of

Adelaide would take legal action’’ if he repeated the allegations.

Mr King said around the time of this phone call in September, 1993, he also went to see his local MP, Mark Brindle, in his electorate office.

“I told him about my abuse. He listened but he also said he had known Brandenburg for years, and that he had visited Brandenburg’s home and seen him with lots of young boys but never saw anything going on,’’ Mr King said.

Mr King said he made a second disclosure of his abuse to the Anglican Church in June, 1999, to Dr Tania Black, a designated contact person for the Adelaide Diocesan Response Group that was set up to handle complaints of sexual abuse within the Diocese.

He said he was asked to write a submission to her outlining how the church could deal with sexual assault, which he did.

“I sent my submission to Dr Black in June 1999 but I received no response. I never heard

from her again,’’ Mr King told the inquiry.

“I felt that although the approach taken this time by the Church regarding

my allegations was different to that of Archdeacon Smith, the outcome was the same.’’

In April, 2006, Mr King was paid a settlement of $150,000 by the Anglican Church.

The Royal Commission is examining the activities of a five-member paedophile ring that operated within the Church of England Boys Society (CEBS) across three states, and the responses of several Anglican dioceses in handling the allegations of sexual abuse.

Former Archdeacon Smith was last week excused from appearing after medical evidence was presented to the inquiry.