Campaigner shocked at number implicated locally in Royal Commission

By Katie Burgess
Canberra Times
February 6, 2017

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/one-in-12-priests-accused-of-abuse-in-catholic-archdiocese-of-canberragoulburn-over-60-years-20170206-gu6al0.html

The Marist Brothers Catholic Order was found to be one of the most notorious for allegations of child sexual abuse.

Seventeen people associated with Catholic religious orders  have been accused of abusing children in the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn over six decades, analysis of the church's own data has revealed.

The ACT and southern NSW diocese also had an above average concentration of religious accused of sexually abusing children, with two orders implicated in abuse cases in Canberra counted among the most notorious.

A survey of church data by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse revealed 8.4 per cent of the 211 religious who served in the archdiocese from 1950 to 2010 were believed to have abused children. This equates to one in 12.

Nationally, 7 per cent of religious  were believed to have abused children over 60 years.

However, the Canberra Archdiocese had a far lower concentration of alleged perpetrators than the Diocese of Sale, where 15.1 per cent of  members were implicated, the Diocese of Sandhurst (14.7 per cent) and the Diocese of Port Pirie (14.1 per cent).

Close to 4500 people raised allegations of child sexual abuse to 93 Catholic Church authorities between January 1980 and February 2015. It is not known how many of those victims were from the Canberra-Goulburn archdiocese.

The worst offending order was St John of God Brothers, where two in five (40.4 per cent) of members had allegations of abuse levelled at them.

One in five religious with the Christian Brothers (22 per cent ) and the Marist Brothers (20.4 per cent) were believed to have abused children, the royal commission said.

Both the Christian and Marist Brothers have been accused of putting children in Canberra schools at risk by covering up the sexual misconduct of its members.

Last year, Fairfax Media revealed two Christian brothers who had been moved to St Edmunds in Canberra had left a trail of child sexual abuse allegations behind them. 

After those revelations five former St Edmund's College students emerged with child abuse complaints.

A former headmaster of the school was also accused of molesting students. 

The royal commission also found the Marist Brothers Catholic order failed to intervene and remove offending brothers John Chute, known as Brother Kostka, and Gregory Joseph Sutton from teaching at Marist College in Canberra. 

Child sexual abuse campaigner and former Marist student Damian De Marco said "he knew it was bad", but was stunned to hear how prevalent abusers were within the order. "There was a quote from George Pell [giving evidence at the royal commission] saying it was an unfortunate coincidence. It's not a coincidence. It's jaw-dropping," Mr De Marco said.

In a letter to parents, Marist College headmaster Richard Sidorko said abuse at the school would no longer be tolerated. 

"Whilst undoubtedly Case Study 50 of the royal commission will be confronting and difficult, nothing compares to the suffering that these men and their families have endured," Mr Sidorko wrote.

"As we strive for healing, it is incumbent upon all of us to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered and who continue to suffer and restate our pledge that never will it occur again."

St Edmund's failed to respond to Fairfax Media's request for comment. 

The data survey was undertaken with the help of Truth, Justice and Healing Council and Catholic Church authorities.