Convicted paedophile tells commission he never queried school transfers

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Helen Davidson
theguardian.com, Monday 30 June 2014

Gregory Sutton, the Marist Brothers teacher convicted of child sexual abuse, has told the royal commission he never asked why he was transferred from school to school, and that the head of the order told him to stay in the US to avoid a warrant issued for his arrest in Australia.

Sutton was suddenly called to give evidence to the royal commission on institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Tuesday, the first time an abuser who was the subject of a public hearing has been called before one. The commission gave no prior warning, sending an updated witness list to media five minutes before Sutton’s appearance.

Sutton’s identity had been legally hidden for almost 20 years until the beginning of this public hearing, when presiding commissioner Justice Jennifer Coates overturned the suppression order.

Sutton, one of two teachers under examination in this public hearing, was convicted in 1996 after pleading guilty to 67 charges of sexual assault against 15 children. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with a minimum term of 12 years, and was released in 2008.

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