Child Sex Abuse Royal Commission: Survivor Says Abuse "Continues to Prey" on His Mind
By Dan Cox
An Anglican Church abuse survivor has told a royal commission's hearings in Newcastle his abuse continues to prey on his mind, 40 years later. The man, who can only be identified as CKA, gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The public hearings at Newcastle courthouse are looking at the past and present systems, policies and practices within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle for responding to allegations of child sexual abuse. CKA told the commission he was an altar boy between 1971 to 1975 when he was sexually abused by a priest, known to the commission as CKC. He said CKC once told him: "This is our special secret, remember how good a friend father CKC is." CKA told the commission: "At the time I didn't think I could disclose CKC's secret because no-one would believe me." When he finally told his mother about the abuse, she went to the then Bishop, Ian Shevill, but said the Bishop was "dismissive". "This realisation was one of the main contributors to my breakdown (at 20 years of age)," CKA said. CKA also told the hearings he was horrified when CKC ended up presiding over his mother's funeral. "It upset me greatly that the church degraded our family by allowing CKC to officiate at our funeral, knowing what CKC had done to me," CKA said. 'I received no support from the church during CKC's trial' CKC was charged with child sexual abuse against CKA and his brother, and legal proceedings began in 2000. "CKC was represented in the criminal proceedings by Paul Rosser QC and Keith Allen," CKA said. "I later learnt they both had close ties to the church. Rosser was deputy chancellor to the diocese and Allen was a trustee of church property. "I think it's unconscionable that they could defend an alleged perpetrator of child sexual abuse while holding positions in the church." He said he was disturbed that the church had given CKC's legal team records of his confidential calls to the church helpline to use against him in court. "CKC's defence also used my medical records against me, relying on the fact that I'd sought psychiatric treatment to convince the jury that I was unstable," he said. The trial started in September 2001 and CKA said he received no support from the church. "Instead, I remember that Graeme Lawrence was CKC's support person, despite having handled my complaints on behalf of the diocese," he told the commission. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ended up withdrawing the charges, when CKC's defence team produced a register showing the abuse could not have happened when CKA said it did. The commission today heard CKC may face a retrial, but it is not expected to be held in Newcastle. 'The abuse still preys heavily on my mind' He told the commission he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the abuse has had a long-lasting effect. "CKC's abuse still preys heavily on my mind - every single day of my life has been filled with the sexual abuse I experienced as a child," CKA said. "While the abuse was horrendous, at least it's over - it's the impact of the church's response that is ongoing. "I cannot get over the sheer frustration of dealing with bishops and clergy who I believe knew full well what CKC was doing, and yet did nothing. "I cannot understand how those people parade around in their robes at Sunday mass, telling others how to live their lives without acknowledging that the church's procedures are flawed. "I found the process of dealing with the church, as abusive as the sexual abuse itself." CKA also told the commission he went to the police in 1977 or 1978, and told an officer that CKC had molested him. "Instead of taking a statement, he simply told me to 'go and talk to your priest'," CKA said. "The last person I wanted to talk to was a priest. I lost all confidence in speaking out and being taken seriously." 'Rushton was well-protected by gang of three'
The commission this week heard paedophile priest Peter Rushton worked across the diocese from 1963, but sexual abuse allegations involving him only came to light after his death in 2007. In giving evidence at the commission, former Upper Hunter Archdeacon Colvin Ford said Rushton's reputation went before him. "His rudeness, sharp tongue and gayness were well known in the Diocese of Newcastle," Archdeacon Ford said. "He was often rude ... and as a consequence, no one tried to pull him up about his behaviour. "He was well-protected by a group I called the 'gang of three' - Dean Graeme Lawrence, Archdeacon Bruce Hoare, and Peter Mitchell the diocesan registrar. "They were a dominant group within the senior staff." When questioned further by Archdeacon Hoare's lawyer, Peter Harper, Archdeacon Ford agreed "the gang of three didn't set out to protect Rushton, but that's what occurred". "I stand by the gang allegation - I agree it may not have been planned, but it still happened," Archdeacon Ford added. Hundreds of pornographic videos destroyed Archdeacon Ford told the hearings, hundreds of pornographic videos were found by removalists who were helping Rushton move from a local rectory. Archdeacon Ford said Rushton had asked another priest, Father David Simpson, to destroy the videos. "David told me that there were hundreds of videos, and that he burned in the backyard of the rectory at Islington," he said. "He also told me that the covers of some of the videos depicted men and boys, which I took to mean primary school aged children." He later added, "on reflection, I think Bishop Herft should have defrocked Rushton after the pornography was found at the end of 1998". "I wish I knew earlier what Rushton was doing." Training college described as 'Satan's playground'
Bishop Richard Appleby was the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle from 1983 to 1992, and denied being told about abuse by CKC, Rushton and youth worker James Brown. In giving evidence to the commission, Bishop Appleby said he never heard St John's seminary training college at Morpeth being described as "Satan's playground". He also told the commission he never heard rumours about homosexual activity on campus and never heard rumours of priests, such as Rushton, being paedophiles. "I was certainly not aware of any of that, in any way, while I served in this diocese in the 1980s," he said. "I find it difficult when I look back on the college to see anything there which would suggest a culture which was encouraging [or] promoting inappropriate sexual relationships." Bishop Appleby told the commission a national "caveat list" was abandoned in 1985 on legal advice that it was "too risky to continue with it". "It was a list of clergy that bishops should be warned about, because they had been convicted of offences or there was some serious charge against them," Bishop Appleby said. "Bishops would have access to this list and, if someone approached them for a job in their diocese, they would see this name is there. "From 1985, up until at least 2005 and beyond, the bishops had no such list. "Now there's a national register, and that's been a huge improvement, but we went for over 20 years without any such list and I think that exposed us to significant risk."
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