AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
By a Broken Rites researcher
One of Australia’s most prominent Catholic leaders, Archbishop Frank Little, covered up complaints about a priest’s child-sex crimes, a Melbourne court was told. Despite knowing about Father Wilfred Baker’s crimes, Archbishop Little allowed Baker to be transferred to a new parish, thereby enabling this priest to commit more child-sex crimes.
Broken Rites first heard about Father Baker after Broken Rites launched its Australia-wide telephone hotline in late 1993. Broken Rites advised these callers that victims should contact the Victoria Police sexual offences and child abuse unit. As a result, detectives eventually charged Baker with child-sex crimes.
In the Melbourne County Court on 8 June 1999, Father Wilfred James Baker (then aged 62) was sentenced to four years’ jail, with parole after two years.
What the judge said
In a pre-sentence hearing on 7 June 1999, Judge Russell Lewis told the court that, at the Gladstone Park parish (in Melbourne’s north-west) in 1978, a family complained to the church that Father Billy Baker was misbehaving towards their young son. The judge said Melbourne’s Archbishop Frank Little was made aware of the complaint. Despite this (said the judge) Baker was then transferred from the Gladstone parish to Eltham (in Melbourne’s north-east).
“He continued with his criminality [at Eltham]”, the judge said.
The judge added: “In the past, there have been paedophile priests who have been moved around with the full knowledge of the hierarchy.”
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