ARMIDALE (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC [Sydney, Australia]
August 23, 2023
By Erin Somerville
Key points:
- A Supreme Court decision has left Christopher Moran without any legal avenue to seek compensation for abuse he allegedly suffered as a child
- The court ruled that the church would be subject to an unfair trial because the alleged perpetrator – a paedophile priest – is dead, as are others linked to the diocese
- Lawyers say the legal tactic used in Mr Moran’s case is increasingly common and “devastating” for victims
Christopher Moran has been waiting a lifetime to have his day in court.
When he was nine his father suddenly died and he went to stay on an Aboriginal mission in northern New South Wales.
The Taungurung man alleges it was during this vulnerable time that he was sexually abused by Catholic priest David Perrett while on a camping trip to Georges Creek in 1976.
The convicted paedophile died in 2020, but Mr Moran’s trauma lives on.
“I carried this, all this, at the age of nine,” Mr Moran said.
“I don’t want to say his name … Perrett.
Mr Moran, 56, has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
He had hoped that bringing a civil court claim against the Diocese of Armidale for vicarious liability and negligence would bring him some form of justice, but on Wednesday morning that hope was dashed.
The diocese sought to prevent the case from progressing with a permanent stay application, which are reserved for exceptional circumstances, and it was upheld in the Supreme Court of NSW.
‘Through hell and back’
The decision means any hope Mr Moran had of seeking compensation through the courts for the trauma he says Perrett’s abuse brought on has been shut down.
“He robbed me of a lot you know, my lifestyle,” Mr Moran said.
“[I] just hid behind the bottle … and no-one needs to go behind that.
“There should be trust in the church where the church did not give us trust.”
Mr Moran’s mother, Christine Briggs, still cries every night over the decades-long trauma she says her son has endured.
It first began with the screaming and nightmares when he returned home from the mission.
“I was always thought they were safe until the children came back, and the children came back and they were all scarred,” Ms Briggs said.
Seeing her son have the chance to be heard in court was important for Ms Briggs, who has already lost two sons.
“I would like to see him get justice, you know, because of what he’s been through,” she said.
“He’s been through hell and back.”
‘Exceptional circumstances’
Justice Richard Cavanagh cited “exceptional circumstances” in ordering Mr Moran’s case be permanently stayed.
Justice Cavanagh concluded that he was satisfied the Diocese of Armidale was unable to have a fair trial following the deaths of Perrett and others linked to the diocese.
“The defendant is unable to meaningfully participate in the trial — not just in respect to the primary allegation, but in respect of all the causes of action pleaded by the plaintiff,” the judgement read.
Mr Moran’s legal team has watched multiple historical abuse claims shut down in court under permanent stay applications.
The lawyers said their clients felt the amount of money they were entitled to under the National Redress Scheme that was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was inadequate for their suffering.
Koffels Solicitors and Barristers special counsel Greg Choat said permanent stays were often threatened at mediation when the perpetrator was dead, which deterred many clients from pursuing further legal action.
“Victims don’t understand why this could possibly happen,” Mr Choat said.
“It strikes me that one of the basis for these stays is apparently so that it doesn’t bring the justice system into disrepute with an unfair trial.
“But I have to tell you, to victims … it would bring the justice system into disrepute to know that a priest with 71 alleged victims dies and his bishop dies, and the church becomes unaccountable for his crimes over decades.
The firm’s principal, Ross Koffel, said it was important to ensure the majority of historical abuse cases were heard and raised concerns that permanent stay applications, which were intended to be used in exceptional circumstances, were being applied to standard cases.
“The devastation for the clients is unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s just overwhelming grief over what’s happened and the fact they won’t be compensated for what’s happened, when there is no doubt the legislation intended that they should be compensated.”
The Diocese of Armidale declined the ABC’s request for comment.