Newcastle Anglican Church ‘harbouring’ active child abusers, by Dan Box, Australian (August 2, 2016)

The Anglican Church in Newcastle, NSW, is “harbouring” a large number of active child abusers and has a history of violent abuse dating back decades and involving some of the city’s most influential people, a royal commission has heard.

The commission, whose public hearing opened this morning, has heard evidence that church officials provided boys to be raped and were allegedly protected by senior figures in the diocese.

Several abusive priests went to the same training college and subsequently occupied powerful positions in and around the city’s cathedral, including being appointed to church bodies established to respond to allegations of abuse.

“Records concerning professional standards matters in the diocese have been improperly altered or destroyed by members of the diocese,” counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Naomi Sharp said.

The diocese’s Professional Standards Director, Michael Elliott, is expected to tell the commission “of his belief that the Diocese is harbouring a large number of active offenders with little or no accountability in place,” Ms Sharp said.

Eight current or former bishops of Newcastle will give evidence to the commission during its two week hearing, which began today. These include the current Anglican Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft, who was told about several allegations suggesting the late Father Peter Rushton was abusing children between 2001 and the priest’s death in 2007, the commission heard.

“The evidence will show that during this period Bishop Herft was made aware of various allegations that Rushton had sexually abused boys. It does not appear that any action was taken with respect to Rushton’s permission to officiate,” Ms Sharp said.

Archbishop Herft also knew that pornography had been discovered in Rushton’s home but took no action against him, other than to suggest the priest go on a 30-day spiritual retreat, the commission heard.

One of Rushton’s victims was his godson Paul Gray, who wept openly as he gave evidence describing being repeatedly raped from the age of ten and a half.

“On many of these occasions, Father Rushton would cut my back with a small knife and smear my blood on my back ... that was meant to symbolise the blood of Christ,” Mr Gray said.

“When I was about 13 years old, Father Rushton took me to the St Albans Home for Boys and left me with three men. The men led me into what they called ‘the f***ing room’ and took turns at raping me.”

Over the following 18 months, Rushton took him to St Albans regularly after church on Sunday, where he was locked in a bare room and sexually assaulted by a succession of men, the commission heard.

One of Rushton’s close associates, James Brown, was an Anglican youth worker who is currently in jail after being convicted for abusing 20 boys between 1974 to 1993.

A diocesan file note tendered to the commission shows Brown once said “he felt he was groomed into a culture within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle where sexual abuse of boys was accepted as the norm.”

Rushton himself was “protected” by senior figures in the diocese known as the ‘Gang of Three’, the commission heard and was never convicted of abuse.

The diocese now “acknowledges that he was a child sex offender,” the commission heard.