Church Abuse Survivor Urges Victims to Get Help Ahead of Royal Commission Hearings in Newcastle

By Dan Cox
ABC News
July 22, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-22/church-abuse-survivors-urged-to-get-help-ahead-of-hearings/7651790

PHOTO: Roger Herft was the Newcastle Bishop for more than a decade, and is facing claims he covered up Father Peter Rushton's child sexual abuse network.

A Hunter clergy sexual abuse survivor and victims advocate is urging fellow victims to seek professional help if a royal commission hearing raises issues for them.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold hearings in Newcastle in August.

Ahead of the hearings, the ABC's 7.30 program has evidence from 2002 that Anglican bishop at the time, Roger Herft, ignored allegations of sexual abuse against notorious paedophile Father Peter Rushton.

Now-Archbishop Herft led the Newcastle diocese for more than a decade, and is facing claims he covered up Rushton's child sexual abuse network.

Hunter clergy abuse survivor Peter Gogarty said the public hearings would lead to more people wanting help.

"There is always a spike in mental health issues, people contacting Lifeline," he said.

"I think the biggest issue for individuals who have survived some sort of sexual abuse in their lives is that this will re-open old wounds.

"People start going back into their own history, and they'll start being concerned about things that happened to them.

"Some people who may never have disclosed this to anybody before are potentially going to do that over the next few weeks.

"There's a real issue for those individuals and for people who care for those individuals."

Mr Gogarty said Lifeline counsellors were available 24 hours a day, and were ready to help.

"Contact Lifeline. They have people who are specifically trained in this area," he said.

"They are very much aware of what's happening with the Anglican Church at the moment and the public hearings that will be starting in Newcastle.

"Please, at the very least talk to Lifeline, talk to the people in your life that you trust, but do not bottle this up."

Mr Gogarty said the Hunter region was well aware of the abuse that took place in the Catholic Church.

But he was shocked by the latest allegations against the Anglican Church.

"I honestly didn't think it would be this bad in the Anglican Church," he said.

"I'm not sure why — perhaps my view was that because Anglican priests can marry that maybe there wouldn't be this level of paedophilia, and there wouldn't be this level of cover-up, so I've been shocked."

PHOTO: Hunter clergy abuse survivor Peter Gogarty is urging fellow victims to get help ahead of the royal commission hearings in Newcastle. (ABC News)

Church could face civil charges, lawyer says

A lawyer who has represented hundreds of church abuse victims said if the allegations against the diocese were proven, it could face a civil charge of fraudulent concealment.

Shine Lawyers' Roger Singh said if the claims were proven, it could lead to ongoing ramifications for survivor compensation.

"If it is established that the allegations that emerged on 7.30 are proven to be correct, yes, this could amount to fraudulent concealment on the part of the church," he said.

"This is whereby they may have deliberately concealed certain knowledge.

"Those victims whose claims were potentially resolved in the absence of such knowledge, when their claims were advanced, could come forward and seek to have their resolutions set aside.

"They could agitate the church for fair and proper compensation in light of this further information."

The ABC has previously revealed up to five paedophile networks may have involved Anglican clergy and lay people in the Hunter.