AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 28 August 2015)
Broken Rites has examined an out-of-court civil settlement, in which a Catholic religious order (the Salesian Fathers) made a payment to a former Melbourne schoolboy who complained that he was sexually abused by a priest, Father Julian Fox. Father Fox was a minister, teacher and administrator at several Salesian schools, including Salesian College, ‘Rupertswood”, which was a boarding school at Sunbury, north-west of Melbourne.
In 2000, the Salesians’ Australian head office signed an out-of-court settlement with a Melbourne man (Luke Quilligan). According to the settlement deed. Luke alleged that “over a period of time between 1978 and 1979, whilst a student at Salesian College, Rupertswood, Sunbury, he was unlawfully sexually and/or physically assaulted by Fr Fox”. According to the deed, Luke further alleged that “as a result of the assaults he sustained loss, damage and injuries and may require counseling or therapy in the future.” The deed says the Salesians were making the settlement to avoid litigation.
Luke’s story
Luke Quilligan was born in 1964. His father died and his mother sent the boy to Rupertswood College, Sunbury, as a boarder in 1979 (for Year 8). He stayed at the college for a year and a half. The mother presumed that the Salesian Fathers would be a good role model for a boy with no male parent.
It is alleged that Luke was sexually abused while at this school. According to Luke, he reported the sexual abuse to Father Terence Jennings, who was the principal (called the rector) of Rupertswood college. According to Luke, Jennings intimidated Luke into remaining silent about the abuse. That is, Jennings covered up the alleged abuse. As well as being the college principal, Jennings had also previously been the provincial superior (i.e., the head) of the Salesian order in the whole of Australia. So this story goes right to the top of the Salesian order in Australia. Jennings died in 2001.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.