No integrity in school award name

AUSTRALIA
Dungog Chronicle

By Janelle O’Neill
Jan. 15, 2013

A family broken by the alleged sexual assault by a priest 50 years ago was devastated to find an integrity award in his name presented annually to a student at St Joseph’s Primary School in Dungog.

Jan Van-Even said her sister was only seven-and-a-half when she was sexually assaulted by Fr William Cantwell when he worked as a parish priest in the Mayfield diocese in the 1960s.

Fr Cantwell was also a parish priest at St Mary’s in Dungog from 1975 to 1984.

“He had access to her as she and class members were studying for their first Communion,” Ms Van-Even said.

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