AUSTRALIA
The Age
August 26, 2014
Jane Lee and Cameron Houston
Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart instructed his lawyers to “take the defences” in a high-profile victim’s court case, it was revealed hours after he told the sex abuse royal commission that he had only told the lawyers to resolve the matter as quickly and compassionately as possible.
The directive, in a note by the church’s lawyer, Richard Leder, of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, raises further concerns about the church’s combative legal response to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of paedophile priests.
When asked about the note, Archbishop Hart began a heated exchange with Tim Seccull, the lawyer representing the Foster family, which filed a statement in 2003. Two of Anthony and Chrissie Foster’s daughters were sexually abused by serial sex offender Kevin O’Donnell.
The Archbishop turned to chairman of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan: “I’ve already provided evidence on this point … I can repeat it if Mr Seccull wishes.”
Mr Seccull suggested that the instructions were consistent with the church’s default position until 2002 to warn victims in correspondence that any legal challenge against the church would be “strenuously defended”.
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