BishopAccountability.org

Bishop’s regular sex abuse meetings took no action

By Dan Box
Australian
August 10, 2016

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/royal-commission/bishops-regular-sex-abuse-meetings-took-no-action/news-story/30614d531bf0da285e989f3164ba8199

Perth Anglican Archbishop Roger Herft.
Photo by Justin Benson-Cooper

Roger Herft, now Anglican Archbishop of Perth, regularly met church officials to discuss “brown envelopes” containing details of priests’ child abuse allegations, yet the group often decided to do nothing, a royal commission has heard.

At the time Archbishop Herft was bishop of Newcastle, in NSW, one of those in the meetings was the dean of the city’s cath­edral, Graeme Lawrence — later defrocked for having group sex with a teenage boy — the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard.

A former trustee of the diocese, Keith Allen, told the commission yesterday he also took part in twice-yearly meetings, before Archbishop Herft moved to Perth in 2005.

About 27 “brown envelopes” detailed claims of child abuse, Mr Allen told the commission: “My memory is either (former diocese registrar) Mr Mitchell brought them in or maybe Bishop Herft brought them in.”

Unless alleged victims detailed in the envelopes were taking legal action against the diocese, Mr Allen said, the meetings resolved to take no further action on their claims.

A subsequent file note states: “Allen’s disclosure regarding cases of sexual abuse constituted an offence and he needed to report these cases to the police.”

Church officials who met to discuss the contents of the envelopes were never told the names of the people allegedly involved, nor the parish where alleged abuses happened, Mr Allen said.

“You’re not telling me or giving me that answer to avoid being charged with a criminal ­offence are you?” asked commission chairman Peter McClellan. Mr Allen replied: “No sir.”

One envelope, tendered in evidence, shows the names of both the alleged victim and abuser, the commission heard.

A 2015 file note states Mr Allen advised a church official “the best approach at the royal commission is to indicate you have no files or notes and that you can only rely on your memory”. He denied saying that.

Another file note, by diocese business manager John Cleary, states Mr Allen “advised to ‘not give anything to the commission about Herft’ without ‘running it by Herft’ ”. Mr Allen said he had no memory of the conversation.




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