No police policy among Marist Brothers

AUSTRALIA
9 News

“Leave it with me.”

That’s what a Marist Brothers school principal was told by the head of the order after reporting a teacher suspected of child sexual abuse.

The principal, Brother Terence Heinrich, on Thursday revealed a culture of secrecy among the Marist Brothers where delicate matters were dealt with in-house – “privately, internally”.

Head of Canberra’s Marist College between 1983 and 1988, Br Heinrich – who is still with the order – recalled being visited by the father of a student in 1986.

Then-brother John Chute, also known as Brother Kostka, had touched the man’s son on the genitals during a film night at the school.

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.