Church Saw Child Abuse As "Moral" Problem

By Rebekah Ison
7 News
September 1, 2016

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/32504227/man-witnessed-child-abuse-did-nothing/#page1

The Catholic Church considered child fondling to be a "moral problem" rather than a criminal act when altar boys first came forward about a notorious Newcastle priest, the royal commission has heard.

A group of boys, who served at St Joseph's at Merewether, told parents and teachers about sickening abuse suffered at the hands of Father Vincent Ryan in 1975.

But Ryan was allowed to continue serving in the ministry unrestricted for another two decades before being arrested.

Former Maitland-Newcastle Diocese Bishop Michael Malone said it used to be the case that priests who offended against anybody could go to confession and be "forgiven of his sins".

"What about the touching of the genitals of a child? Was that seen as a moral problem or ... a criminal act?" Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse chairman Peter McClellan asked on Thursday.

"I think in the past it was considered as a moral problem," Bishop Malone replied.

One of Ryan's victims, known as CNE, gave harrowing evidence about years of abuse in the 1980s, usually as the teenaged altar boy returned his robes to the sacristy or when Ryan visited his grandparent's home.

He said a parishioner once walked in as the priest tried to force him to perform oral sex but just turned around and said nothing.

The royal commission heard the abuse caused him to be sexually inappropriate as a teenager and he went to jail in 2009 for abusing another child when he was 14.

Father Ryan was in the same prison for sex crimes and the pair shared an exercise yard.

"I wanted to kill him," he said.

"He knew who I was and he wouldn't even look at me."

By 1997 Ryan, who has never been formally defrocked, had been convicted of offences relating to 35 victims.

Bishop Malone said he thought Ryan could be better restricted after jail if he was still part of the Church.

He told the royal commission the Church provided Ryan with accommodation and health cover and has a memorandum of understanding with him to this day.

"I don't think that the community would have thanked us for releasing a pedophile into its midst without any idea of supervision," he said.

The royal commission will also investigate how Maitland-Newcastle authorities dealt with allegations against three Marist brothers - Brother Dominic, Brother Romuald and Brother Patrick.

It heard Bishop Malone brought allegations about Brother Dominic to the attention of a brother in 1996 but did not follow up whether police had been notified.

He also told him about alleged historical inappropriate behaviour by Brother Romuald and Brother Patrick the same year.

But at the time he didn't think the alleged behaviour was criminal because it involved "touchy feely" stuff rather than penetration or masturbation, he told the royal commission.

The hearing in Newcastle is expected to continue on Friday.