A report has slammed the actions of Anglican Church leaders Ian George and Brian Smith over child abuser Robert Brandenburg, by Nigel Hunt, Advertiser (February 13, 2017)

A report has slammed the actions of Anglican Church leaders Ian George and Brian Smith over child abuser Robert Brandenburg

FORMER Anglican archbishop Ian George was more concerned with legal liability facing the church than providing care to the victims of notorious paedophile Robert Brandenburg, a report found.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report also reveals a public statement Dr George issued in 2003 concerning his awareness of Brandenburg’s abuse was “misleading.’’

It found he was aware of allegations surrounding Brandenburg up to a decade earlier, after he was advised Brandenburg had been caught in a spa with a 10-year old boy.

The damning findings also state Dr George “bore the primary responsibility’’ for the Adelaide Diocese’s poor handling of the abuse allegations.

“We are satisfied that the Diocese of Adelaide delayed inordinately in responding to the widespread allegations that Mr Brandenburg had sexually abused boys,’’ the report states.

“That delay denied appropriate pastoral support to Mr Brandenburg’s victims.’’

The report examines the responses of the Anglican diocese of Tasmania, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney to a paedophile network that operated within the Church of England Boys Society — mainly in Tasmania and South Australia — for more than two decades.

The paedophile ring consisted of Brandenburg, an SA society leader and Anglicare employee who committed suicide in Adelaide in 1999 after being charged with sex offences. The others were ex-Tasmanian archdeacon Lou Daniels and priests John Elliot and Garth Hawkins, and former NSW society leader Simon Jacobs.

The Adelaide diocese of the Anglican Church has paid about $4 million in compensation to about 40 of Brandenburg’s abuse victims and revamped its systems and processes for dealing with allegations of abuse since 2004.

In 2003 an independent report by retired Supreme Court Justice Trevor Olsson and psychiatrist Dr Donna Chung found the church had an uncaring, disbelieving attitude toward victims and was more concerned with the impact the allegations had on itself and its clergy, but it did not delve as deeply into the scandal as the Royal Commission.

The 2004 report led directly to the resignation of Dr George in June, 2004, after the Diocesan Council and Professional Standards Committee lost confidence in him.

Besides singling Dr George out for criticism, the Royal Commission report released on Monday details the appalling lack of action taken by former Anglican Archdeacon Brian Smith when he was alerted to Brandenburg’s shocking abuse of CEBS boys.

Archdeacon Smith did not give evidence to the Royal Commission due to ill health, but his evidence to the 2003 Olsson/Chung Inquiry into the scandal was considered.

“The evidence established that Archdeacon Smith received multiple disclosures about Mr Brandenburg sexually interfering with boys,’’ the report states.

It states at one meeting with an abused boy’s father between 1976 and 1978, at which Mr Brandenburg was present, Archdeacon Smith had told Mr Brandenburg he had been “a naughty boy’’ and simply required him to “confirm he would not do it again’’, and no action was taken against him.

In 1993 another abuse survivor, Mark King, disclosed his abuse to Archdeacon Smith who was “aggressively defensive and vouched for Mr Brandenburg’s good character.’’

Mr King gave evidence that Archdeacon Smith had told him: “Be very careful who you talk to about this. We have the best lawyers and we have no hesitation in pursuing you.’’

While Archdeacon Smith told the Olsson/Chung inquiry he had “no recollection’’ of knowing Mr King or meeting him, this evidence was rejected by the royal commission.

“The effect of Archdeacon Smith’s failure to act was to suppress the allegations against Mr Brandenburg and protect him and the ... CEBS and the diocese,’’ the report states.