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Christian Brother Authorised Funding for Private Investigator to Track down Abuse Victims, Child Sex Abuse Hearing Told

By Jessica Longbottom
ABC News
February 24, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-24/royal-commission-christian-brother-hired-private-investigator/7196650

A senior Christian Brother authorised spending on a private investigator to track down victims of notorious paedophile Brother Edward Dowlan, the royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard.

Brother Brian Brandon was a provincial council member of St Patrick's province of the Christian Brothers, which covered Victoria and Tasmania, between 1984 and 1996.

Since 1993, he has dealt with sex abuse claims brought against the Christian Brothers as part of his role with the order's Professional Standards Board.

Testifying before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat, he revealed the tactics engaged by the Christian Brothers to bully people who took sex abuse claims to police.

In 1995, he authorised spending on a private investigator who was targeting victims of Brother Edward Dowlan, who is now in jail for molesting dozens of boys.

In a letter, the investigator, Glynis McNeight, reported back to Dowlan's lawyers, saying one of her employees tracked down a victim and confronted him about the allegations, adding the victim began to cry.

"As a witness, his credibility can be very easily destroyed as he has had enormous emotional problems all his life," she wrote to the order's legal team.

"He's a very nervous, excitable type who will reduce to tears and bad language easily."

Brother Brandon gave evidence he was opposed to the strategy of using a private investigator, however he would not answer direct questions put to him about whether he instructed the lawyers to use that strategy in the first place.

"I said if that's what it will cost, I'm prepared to pay for that. I said we'd pay for it," he said.

Brother Brandon said the tactic was used on one other occasion.

"I was not happy with the way victims, survivors, were put under stress in this process," he said.

"I'm sorry this strategy was adopted even though I wasn't the source of the strategy being adopted."

Bishop unlikely to remember abuse cases: friend

Bishop Ronald Mulkearns was in charge of the Ballarat diocese when several paedophile priests were moved from parish to parish abusing children.

He has previously been found to be too sick to give testimony but on Thursday is expected to give evidence to the royal commission through a video link.

One of his childhood friends Eileen Piper doubts he will be up to the task.

"I'm only hoping that when he goes into the stand he might, he might remember. I wouldn't be very confident," she said.

 

 

 

 

 




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