Aussie Church Says Will Report Priest Accused of Abuse for Moving to Kuching

Malay Online
February 11, 2016

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/aussie-church-says-will-report-priest-accused-of-abuse-for-moving-to-kuchin

On Wednesday, The Age reported that an Australian priest had moved to Kuching and is using the gay dating website ‘Planetromeo’ to seek the company of ‘young Asian men’. ? Reuters pic

A priest under investigation for child molest in Australia will be reported to his home country’s authorities for moving to Kuching, Sarawak without authorisation, the Catholic Church there said.

The Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of Melbourne said Father Peter Grasby had breached its 2013 instructions to remain in Australia when he shifted to Malaysia, where he is allegedly seeking “young Asian men”, without its knowledge.

“As Father Grasby did not inform the Archdiocese of his move to Malaysia contrary to the conditions imposed on him in August 2013, Archbishop Hart will now refer the matter to the Independent Commissioner for his consideration and recommendation,” the archdiocese’s spokesman was quoted saying in Australian daily The Age’s report last night.

The spokesman said Melbourne Archbishop Dennis Hart had previously rejected Grasby’s August 2013 request to move out from Australia.

“Archbishop Hart emphasised the need to know his whereabouts and that if he chose to leave Australia without permission, further advice would be sought from the Independent Commissioner regarding his situation,” the spokesman said.

The paper said the Independent Commissioner will decide on the action to be taken against Grasby, who was yesterday reported to be residing in Kuching where he is active on a gay dating website.

The paper did not name the Independent Commissioner, but Grasby was reported in 2012 to be assisting independent commissioner Jeff Gleeson, SC, in investigations on allegations of sexual abuse of a young boy over 30 years ago.

In the same report yesterday, The Age said the Catholic Church authorities confirmed the upholding in 2013 of a complaint made against Grasby involving the sexual abuse of a boy aged 10 to 14 at St Joseph’s in West Brunswick, Melbourne.

Having previously stated that the alleged victim had declined to lodge a police report, the Catholic Church told the paper that the complaint had been passed on to the police.

The Age said that Grasby was then an assistant priest at the point when the alleged sexual abuse happened, which it said had first occurred in the late 1970s and may have gone on until the early 1980s.

Grasby, the former parish priest at St Mary Magdalen in Victoria, was put on paid “administrative leave” in 2012 after being accused in the same year of the abuse of the boy.

On Wednesday, The Age reported that Grasby had moved to Kuching and is using the gay dating website “Planetromeo” to seek the company of “young Asian men”.

The newspaper reported Grasby as providing details about his genitals and sexual preferences on his Planetromeo profile, and describing himself as a “well-educated and really soft-hearted mature GWM [gay white male]”.

The Age said yesterday that the self-described 66-year-old has deleted his Planetromeo profile after the publication of its Wednesday report.

Yesterday, the Immigration Department’s Sarawak authorities told Malay Mail Online that they will deport Grasby if the former priest is found to be living in the state.