Police ‘queried bishop on sex ring’, by Dan Box, Australian (August 30, 2016)

The Anglican Archbishop of Perth was interviewed by police investigating a pedophile ring while he was bishop of the Newcastle diocese in NSW, a royal commission has heard.

The revelation, in documents released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, comes after Archbishop Roger Herft gave evidence this week that he was told priests were abusing children but did not report this to police.

Archbishop Herft said yesterday that he was given a “sacred trust” by the people of Newcastle during his time there as bishop between 1993 and 2005, and “I have let them down and let them down badly”. “I want to thank the commission for holding me personally accountable, for holding the church personally accountable,” he said.

Under questioning this week, he accepted that evidence shows he was warned on three occasions in the late 1990s that senior priest Graeme Lawrence was a sexual abuser, including of children. The archbishop also was warned repeatedly about sexual crimes by the late pedophile priest Peter Rushton, but did not report either man to police, the commission has heard.

A record of a meeting in January between Archbishop Herft and current Newcastle Bishop Greg Thompson states: “Roger then spoke of police visiting him when bishop of Newcastle and interviewing in relation to a pedophile ring. He said he could report that he had no evidence of such.

“Roger also advised me that he had met with Graeme (Lawrence) and Gregory Goyette recently,” Bishop Thompson recorded. “He provided no information concerning them but I left ... feeling that there were matters he could have told me but chose not to.”

Mr Lawrence, who was dean of Newcastle cathedral during Archbishop Herft’s time in the diocese, was defrocked after having group sex with a teenager, the commission has heard. His partner, Mr Goyette, also had a sexual relationship with the teen, the commission has heard.

During his meeting with the archbishop, Bishop Thompson “commented on the culture of intimidation that gave rise to criminal behaviour in this diocese”, his file note states, although Archbishop Herft “provided no comment on this”.

In accounts of their conversation given to the commission, both say they discussed “bad behaviour” by those on diocesan “boards and committees”.

Yesterday Archbishop Herft said his understanding of child abuse committed by priests had been “naive” during his time in Newcastle and had changed.

Under questioning, he said he had wrestled with the “conundrum” of whether to report abuse allegations against priests to police, or whether this should be left to the alleged victims.

“I hope that the church ... will be one that has not only woken up but become more and more transparent and accountable for the … most vulnerable,” he said.