Priest Dies Weeks after Child Abuse Charges Reinstated
By Giselle Wakatama and David Marchese
A former Hunter Valley priest accused of child abuse has died just weeks after charges against him were reinstated. During a recent royal commission hearing into Newcastle's Anglican Diocese, abuse survivor CKA said he was abused by a priest known as CKC while he was an altar boy between 1971 and 1975. A trial against CKC started in 2001, but the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ended up withdrawing the charges. The case was no-billed when CKC's defence team produced a register showing the abuse could not have happened when CKA said it did. But the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told last year charges would likely be reinstated on the back of fresh evidence. Just prior to Christmas, four charges against the 79-year-old were reinstated and another 20 added. CKC died late yesterday after battling cancer in a Ballarat hospice. Speaking after the death, CKA said he was disappointed CKC would never face court. "I feel really cheated I guess," he said. "I fought all my life to get this bloke in front of a court and to get him to answer for this stuff, and it just seems really unfair to me. "You spend all that time and effort and heartache and it just ends like this." CKA said he had mixed emotions about the priest's death. "All I really expected was that I would get him charged for the vindication," he said. "For the Crown to recognise that what happened in 2001 was wrong and it needed to be addressed." CKA praised police for their "unrelenting pursuit" of the case, recognising they would also be disappointed after months of work. He urged other child abuse survivors to maintain their pursuit of justice at all costs, even when the fight seems impossible. "Don't ever give up," he said. "If something is wrong, it's wrong. You have just got to keep on fighting. "If you walk into a police station or a church and you don't get the appropriate response, walk in again. "They have got to listen to you sooner or later." Low-key funeral CKC moved to the Ballarat diocese in 1996 and worked as a priest and hospital chaplain. The Anglican Bishop of Ballarat, Garry Weatherill, said CKC remained active locally until 2013, until the diocese was contacted by Newcastle police and the priest was stood down immediately. The Bishop said the former priest's funeral would be low-key. "For example, I won't be present. Normally the Bishop would be the principle celebrant," he said. "It'll just be the local parish priest who has cared for him over these last few days." Priest will 'stand before God', says diocese The Newcastle Anglican diocese released a statement saying it recognised the anguish the priest's death would bring to those who have come forward with claims of abuse. "Christians hold the view that in death we encounter God. We hold that every person will stand before God and be accountable for the good and the ill they have done," the statement said. "We particularly pray for survivors of abuse that they may find peace and hope. The Diocese of Newcastle is committed to doing what it can to be part of people's healing journey. 'The Diocese continues to encourage people who have experienced abuse to come forward to speak of their experience to the NSW Police and the Diocesan Director of Professional Standards."
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.