Bishop's Decision "Offends" Abuse Victim

SBS
August 12, 2016

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/08/12/bishops-decision-offends-abuse-victim

An Anglican bishop's decision to suspend rather than depose a priest accused of sexual misconduct was "offensive" to the victim, a church official has told a national inquiry.

Michael Elliott, director of the professional standards board for the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle said on Friday he saw Bishop Brian Farran's 2012 decision to ban priest Graeme Sturt for five years rather than follow a recommendation to defrock him as an "affront" to the church's efforts to protect children.

The board - a church investigative body - had upheld a complaint by abuse survivor CKH against Sturt and three other priests Andrew Duncan, Bruce Hoare and former dean of Newcastle Cathedral Graeme Lawrence.

Mr Elliott returned to the witness box for the second day at a royal commission hearing into how the Newcastle diocese responded to sex abuse allegations against clergy and church lay workers.

In reply to Colin Heazlewood, representing Bishop Farran Mr Elliott said there seemed to be a "significant delay" by the bishop in dealing with the clerics accused by CKH.

The commission has heard Lawrence went to Supreme Court to have the professional standards board decision to depose him quashed.

CKH had complained priest Andrew Duncan had sexual relations with him from the time he was 14 and groomed him for group sex with Lawrence, Lawrence's long time partner, teacher Greg Goyette, and other priests. The offences took place in the early 80s.

He told the commission earlier this week on one occasion Graeme Sturt watched as Lawrence and Bruce Hoare had sex with him in a hotel room. Sturt was stroking a 17-year-old boy who was so drunk he had passed out, the commission, CKH said.

The Supreme Court decision was handed down in May but it was September before Bishop Farran acted on it.

In reply to Mr Heazlewood, Mr Elliott agreed the Bishop was overseas until July and began action in August.

Mr Elliott said on Friday Lawrence was a personal friend of Bishop Farran and this "created for him a difficulty and conflict in dealing with him".

He also said he saw the bishop's "great struggle with confronting these matters of abuse within the church that involved people that were well known to him and friends of his."

The bishop at first was going to suspend Lawrence rather than follow the recommendation to defrock him but changed his mind after meeting with abuse survivor CKH.

Bishop Farran defrocked Lawrence, Hoare and Duncan but banned Sturt for five years.

A letter produced on Friday showed the bishop saw Sturt as a victim because he was "most likely dominated by Lawrence". Sturt's "passivity and subsequent concealment" were the reasons for the ban.

Mr Elliott said he had not been given a formal reason why the Bishop just banned Sturt.

When shown the letter on Friday he agreed he might have seen it but was so offended by the suggestion that Sturt was a victim he probably did not digest it properly.