Whistleblower Priest Tells Child Abuse Inquiry He Was Ostracised by Anglican Church

ABC
August 3, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4512589.htm

MARK COLVIN: This following story from the child abuse royal commission contains details you may find disturbing.

An Anglican priest has issued a scathing criticism of members of the church hierarchy at a public hearing investigating decades of abuse at the hands of the clergy.

The inquiry is focusing on the Diocese of Newcastle in New South Wales, but Reverend Roger Dyer says the church has been affected by the actions of paedophiles Australia-wide.

And he's spoken openly about how he was ostracised when he attempted to raise the alarm in recent years.

But one former Bishop remains adamant that he never knew that a priest who he promoted was a prolific child sex offender.

Thomas Oriti reports.

THOMAS ORITI: Peter Rushton has been described as a serial paedophile, but the Anglican priest from Newcastle died in 2007 without ever being convicted, and that haunts Reverend Roger Dyer.

ROGER DYER: At no stage has anyone ever apologised to me for the treatment I have received as a consequence of speaking out. My intention at St Luke's was to expose and acknowledge the pain caused by paedophilia, and to enable the parish to heal from the abuse that it experienced, and to move forward.

THOMAS ORITI: The former rector at St Luke's Church in the parish of Wallsend in Newcastle's west says he tried to raise the alarm about sex offenders within the clergy in recent years.

ROGER DYER: It's affected my ministry, and I've lost the opportunity to continue in the ministry that I love and believe in. I've suffered serious physical and mental illness, and I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2012, relating to the trauma of my experience at St Luke's.

I have been ostracised, and my reputation and credibility have been damaged. By speaking out, I've lost the opportunity to exercise my vocation, which is devastating to me. I cannot get another paid position, as no bishop would offer me a position when they had vacancies.

THOMAS ORITI: He says he was continuously undermined by people within the church hierarchy when he expressed his concerns, and today, in his testimony to the royal commission, he named bishops and laypeople who he says tried to prevent him from speaking out.

Some wanted him removed from the church. On one occasion, he says an Archdeacon attempted to physically stop him from addressing the synod by blocking him on the stairs. Reverend Dyer told the hearing he had to push the man away.

He also warned that the attitudes were entrenched, not just in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, but across the country.

ROGER DYER: It is my firm belief that the Anglican Church has been adversely affected across Australia by the action of paedophiles, and there has been systemic failure by our bishops to deal with it effectively. They would rather punish the whistleblowers and silence the victims, than bring the perpetrators to justice.

THOMAS ORITI: His attack went further.

Reverend Dyer told the hearing that records in his parish had been falsified, and that comments had been made about Peter Rushton's behaviour before he died.

But that was about a decade ago, and former parishioner Pamela Wilson told the hearing that concerns were raised back in 1980.

PAMELA WILSON: She had found her little boy lying in a ball on his bed crying. When she settled him down, he told her whatever he could explain that Rushton had done to him. I think he was four or five years old at the time when he was abused.

THOMAS ORITI: She says the wife of an assistant priest made that allegation against Peter Rushton, and the mother and father added that they told the Bishop of Newcastle at the time, Alfred Holland, who refused to believe them.

Today, Bishop Holland denied that the conversation ever took place, and said he only found out about Rushton's behaviour after media reports in 2010.

Justice Peter McClellan suggested that he should've known.

PETER MCCLELLAN: Do you accept any responsibility in having failed to exercise your management responsibilities effectively?

ALFRED HOLLAND: I don't acknowledge responsibility, because I didn't know any allegations had been made against Rushton.

THOMAS ORITI: In 1983, Alfred Holland promoted Peter Rushton to the position of Archdeacon.

By then, Rushton's said to have abused a number of boys - some of whom he fostered from a home that was being run by the church.

The royal commission has also heard evidence that he organised a sex trip of Europe with some of them in 1979.

Bishop Holland said he had no reason not to trust Rushton at the time, but Counsel Assisting Naomi Sharp asked his opinion of the man now.

NAOMI SHARP: As you sit here today, do you believe that Peter Rushton sexually abused a large number of boys while he worked in the Diocese of Newcastle?

ALFRED HOOLLAND: Today, yes, I suppose the answer to that is yes, because I've heard about them from other sources.

THOMAS ORITI: Today, Alfred Holland also confirmed that he wrote a positive character reference for another priest, who'd been charged with sexually abusing a boy. He says he wasn't aware of that charge at the time.

At least eight other men will be investigated during this hearing, with more survivors expected to appear tomorrow.

MARK COLVIN: Thomas Oriti.