Father of leading Salvation Army officer facing child sex charges, by Dan Box, Australian (April 10, 2017)

The father of the man who leads the Salvation Army’s powerful Eastern Territory will appear in court next month charged with 14 sexual offences, including a series of alleged indecent assaults on girls under the age of 16.

Ray Pethybridge, whose son Lieutenant Colonel Kelvin Pethybridge is the chief secretary-in-charge of the church across NSW, Queensland and the ACT, has not yet entered a plea to the alleged offences.

The revelation demonstrates how exposed the organisation has become to the global scandal surrounding church child abuse and follows evidence, uncovered recently by a royal commission, of horrific assaults committed by its officers and staff.

Mr Pethybridge, a former court chaplain who also worked in the church’s Sydney hostels providing accommodation for the homeless and poor, is among three of its former officers currently before the courts on child sex offences.

Another officer and a Salvation Army soldier were convicted of multiple sexual assaults late last year, while evidence before the royal commission identified at least 19 people in the organisation who allegedly abused children over decades.

A dedicated police strike force investigating child abuse in boys’ homes run by the church has made two arrests so far and remains in operation.

More than 250 child victims who gave evidence in private to the royal commission said they were abused in institutions run by the church across Australia.

Campaigners representing those who spent their childhood in these institutions now plan to demonstrate at the annual Red Shield Appeal in May, partly in protest at the relatively light suspended sentence given to one former Salvation Army officer.

“The Salvation Army has continued to not be honest about abusers in their organisation,” said Leonie Sheedy, co-founder of the Care Leavers Australasia Network.

Evidence tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse suggests the Salvation Army became aware of allegations against Mr Pethybridge as early as 2006.

A letter, tendered in evidence, from October that year says: “Dear Ray … in light of a written statement from a young woman … you are not to attend court or represent the Salvation Army in any way until you have had a conversation with Major Peter Farthing.”

A handwritten note beneath this says: “Further investigation suggested the complaint was based on a fabrication.” The note is signed ‘‘Peter Farthing’’.

Internal emails from January 2014, tendered to the commission, said “allegations have recently been made about (Mr Pethybridge’s) conduct dating back to his time” at two hostels run by the church in Sydney.

A spokesman for the Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory said it was not providing financial or pastoral support to Mr Pethybridge, who has also been stripped of his rank and forced to leave the organisation.

“Since the royal commission hearings, the Salvation Army has proactively enacted a number of significant changes to ensure policies and procedures remain best-practice.

“The Salvation Army would like to again sincerely and unreservedly apologise to survivors, their families and the Australian public for serious past failures,” the spokesman said.