AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
BY PAUL MAGUIRE AAP JULY 23, 2013
A WITNESS has drawn tears from the public gallery and applause from the commissioner of a special inquiry as he told his story of abuse at the hands of a NSW Catholic priest.
The man, now 37, flew to Newcastle from interstate to tell how abuse at the hands of Father James Fletcher had contributed to his alcohol use, relationship breakdowns, depression, business failure and a suicide attempt.
He questioned how different his life would have turned out if the church “had done something about Fletcher years ago instead of moving him around. Would he have got to me?'”
He said Fr Fletcher did “a terrible job on me.”
“I had tried to block it out but there were many times I was tormented by memories and the shame, anger and embarrassment which had a really bad effect on me,” he told the inquiry into the police handling of child sexual abuse allegations involving Hunter Valley priests, Fr Denis McAlinden and Fr Fletcher.
“The breach of trust I have experienced at the hands of the Catholic church will affect me forever as I was an innocent little kid with a big hope for the future…I expected that when I finally got the courage to tell someone about it the church would not let me down…
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