(AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC [Sydney, Australia]
February 16, 2024
By Tobi Loftus
- In short: A man has launched legal action against the Toowoomba Catholic Diocese after he was allegedly raped by a priest in the late 2000s.
- The boy was in mid-primary school at the time.
- What’s next? A statement of claim has been filed in the Supreme Court in Toowoomba, where that matter will progress.
Police did not investigate allegations a southern Queensland priest had sexually abused a young school student because the alleged offender had already died, the Queensland Police Service says.
The former primary school student, who the ABC can’t identify, is suing the Toowoomba Catholic Diocese for $1.7 million in damages for the alleged abuse dating back to the late 2000s.
The man, now in his 20s, alleges well-known priest Father James Byrne raped him multiple times at the Sacred Heart Church after school mass.
In the statement of civil claim filed to the Supreme Court in Toowoomba, the man claimed students had to attend mass at the church on most Fridays as part of the school curriculum.
“On approximately 20-30 occasions after such mass … Father Byrne asked the plaintiff to remain in the church to help [fold] away kneeling cushions after the other students had left,” the statement of claim read.
It was in the main building of the church that Father Byrne allegedly raped the boy.
On one occasion it is alleged the priest “cut” the boy’s genitals with a small knife.
The matter was initially referred to police three years ago.
“Toowoomba police received a report in January 2021,” a QPS spokesperson said.
“However, as the person named in the report was already deceased, no criminal investigation was conducted.
“As the matter is now before a civil court, it would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this time.”
Military, police chaplain
Father Byrne presided over Sacred Heart Parish for more than 30 years and was a chaplain in the military for five years, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He was also a foundation senior police chaplain for the QPS after the landmark Fitzgerald Inquiry, a position he held for a decade.
By 2013 Father Byrne had moved to Ireland, where he died on December 11, 2020.
In the man’s civil claim, he alleges the diocese was negligent because the school, including through its teachers and staff, “did not take the plaintiff from the main building of the church back to school after each mass” and “allowed Father Byrne … to direct the plaintiff to remain in the church”.
The man claims he suffered physical and psychological injuries as a result of the alleged abuse, including post-traumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder.
“The said risk was foreseeable in circumstances where, by 2009, it was common knowledge that church personnel, including priests, in Australia had frequently perpetrated sexual abuse against children and the defendant knew or ought to have known of such occurrences,” the statement of claim read.
‘Committed to supporting survivors’
The Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba has yet to file a response to the claim to the court.
Diocesan Safeguarding Ministry executive officer Peter Dorfield said as the matter was before the courts, “it would be inappropriate for the diocese to comment on the specifics of the matter”.
“However, the diocese reiterates its commitment to supporting survivors of abuse and repairing the wrongs of the past,” he said.
The Australian Defence Force has also been contacted for comment.