(AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC [Sydney, Australia]
August 12, 2025
By Josh Robertson
In short:
A secret report revealed that James Crisp and his son David were accused of sexually abusing students as part of a suspected paedophile ring at St Teresa’s College in the 1990s.
David Crisp was jailed in May after more than three decades on the run from police but his father was never charged over the allegations.
James Crisp was jailed last month for unrelated child sex offences.Link copiedShare article
A man who was accused of involvement in a paedophile ring with his son at a Queensland Catholic boarding school has been jailed for unrelated child sex offences decades later.
WARNING: This story contains references to sexual abuse that may cause distress.
James Michael Crisp, the former “head of discipline” at St Teresa’s College, was named in a secret church report to police flagging a suspected network of sex predators who worked at the school in the 1990s.
This included his son, David Justin Crisp, 57, who spent more than three decades on the run from police before he was jailed in May.
The report seen by the ABC reveals James Crisp was accused of preying on two of the same victims as his son — allegedly raping one so violently he inflicted injuries — but he was never charged.
Church reported concerns about paedophile links
The case of a child sex offender who was on the run for three decades has led to revelations of paedophile links at a Queensland Catholic school.
However, last month, a dark past caught up with James Crisp.
He was jailed for sex offences between 2009 and 2014 involving a young girl who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The 87-year-old was sentenced in the Maroochydore District Court to serve six months for rape, indecent treatment and maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child.
Of seven men named in the 2023 “Connections at St Teresa’s” report, James Crisp is the fourth to be convicted of child sex offences.
But only his son is serving time for what happened at the school.
If you or anyone you know needs help:
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- QLife: 1800 184 527
- ReachOut.com
Up to 14 boys have alleged they were sexually abused at St Teresa’s between 1989 and 1998.
The report raised “concerns regarding the possible connection of multiple alleged/potential perpetrators” who shared personal and professional histories, helped each other get jobs and allegedly shared victims.
They included the school principal who hired James and David Crisp.
‘Close relationship’ between predators
James Sampson Doran appeared to have a “close relationship with the Crisp family”, according to an internal church review by barrister Kathleen Payne in 2016.
He taught David Crisp in the 1980s at St John’s College in Lismore, where Doran was a serial child sex predator.
In 1989, he employed his former student at St Teresa’s as a boarding master in charge of 40 students.
The two men were “strongly suspected as having a sexual relationship whilst they both worked at [the school]”, according to the church report.
That relationship “assisted Crisp to carry out the sexual assaults” on students, one alleged victim said.
Two sexual assault allegations in two years prompted David Crisp to resign.
“Almost immediately following David Crisp’s resignation amongst allegations of serious child sexual abuse … Jim Doran (as principal) wrote to Jim Crisp (David Crisp’s father) offering him a position,” according to the 2016 review.
As senior boarding master and “school disciplinarian”, James Crisp was “generally not liked”, a colleague told police.
“In fact, some of the students hold a hatred for Jim Crisp,” he said.
One of those students was targeted for abuse by David Crisp on his return to the school in 1992.
Doran’s decision to rehire him as school safety officer was “extraordinary and indefensible”, the 2016 review found.
The victim’s father went straight to police and David Crisp was suspended.
When James Crisp resigned, Doran told James Crisp that he would “greatly miss your friendship, loyalty and Collegial advice”.
An arrest warrant loomed for David Crisp when his father informed church education officials in late 1993 that he had left Australia “on the advice of his barrister”.
James Crisp kept in touch with his son, who had travelled to the UK via Vanuatu, on a weekly basis, a former associate told the ABC.
Allegations father and son shared victims
The first sexual abuse allegation levelled against both James and David Crisp emerged in 2008 from a prison cell.
A former St Teresa’s student serving time for attempted murder alleged both father and son had subjected him to “perverted and unthinkable acts”.
This included waking up at night to sexual abuse by David Crisp, and a sexually charged assault by James Crisp who “strapped [him] on the bare buttocks”.
The former student said he drank and took drugs to try to get expelled “but Jim Doran wouldn’t expel me”.
James Crisp forwarded a letter from the church containing the allegations to his son.
However, the review does not say whether the church asked James Crisp to respond to allegations against him.
The church paid the former student $85,000 to settle the matter in 2012, and reported it to police in 2016.
Another former boarder alleged he was abused by all three predators: David and James Crisp, and Doran.
His account included being “bent over naked by James Crisp in the office” and raped.
“The alleged victim recalls how violently he was penetrated resulting in injuries,” the church report said.
He made no claim for redress but the church reported the matter to police in November 2022.
Doran died in custody in 2018 while serving a 13-year sentence for sex offences at other schools.
James and David Crisp are both due for release from prison about the same time early next year.
Jacqui Francis, the current chief executive of Townsville Catholic Education, which runs St Teresa’s College, has said its past handling of abuse allegations was “totally inadequate”.
“We acknowledge historical abuse and the pain and suffering that past students have been subjected to,” she said.
“No student or family should be subjected to this pain.”