AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 22, 2013
A PEDOPHILE priest, who was twice convicted of indecently assaulting teenage boys, was never disciplined by the church and continued to worship publicly at an Anglican cathedral until October this year.
Documents tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse show the man, Allan Kitchingman, was one of three church officials able to remain priests despite the church receiving allegations they had sexually abused children.
Philip Gerber, the former professional standards director for the Anglican diocese of Newcastle, NSW, told the commission that Kitchingman continued to worship at the city’s cathedral after his most recent conviction in 2002.
“There were a number of people, including the dean of the cathedral . . . who had some sort of history of misconduct or abuse that were collecting around Newcastle cathedral,” Mr Gerber told the commission.
“Dean Graeme Lawrence was a very powerful man and he protected people who were in his cathedral . . . he was quite a powerful person who exercised influence over people, even bishops.”
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