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  Clergymen to Appeal Extradition Decision

West Australian
October 5, 2006

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=322734

Two Catholic clergymen accused of child sex offences will seek leave to appeal to the High Court after the Federal Court ordered their extradition to New Zealand.

Rodger William Moloney, 71, and Raymond Garchow, 58, are alleged to have committed sex offences against young boys in New Zealand between 1971 and 1980.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) took the pair into custody on Thursday but the men are expected to apply for bail in the High Court next week.

Their barrister, Paul Byrne, SC, indicated to the court that his clients would also seek leave to appeal to the High Court.

A Sydney magistrate last year ordered Moloney and Garchow be extradited, but the pair successfully appealed against the decision in the Federal Court.

In April this year, Justice Rodney Madgwick accepted arguments that because of the length of time that had elapsed since their alleged offences, and the differences in the two countries' legal systems, it would be unjust to surrender them to New Zealand.

The full bench of the Federal Court overturned that decision, confirming the magistrate's extradition order.

In a unanimous ruling, the five judges found it had not been established that it would be unjust to extradite the men.

"We are not convinced that any trial in New Zealand ... would necessarily be unfair," they said in their judgment.

"This is classically a matter that should be left to the trial courts in New Zealand, rather than forming the basis of a ruling that a trial in that country would necessarily be unfair."

The judges emphasised that they had in no way considered the guilt or innocence of the men, or the strength of the case against them.

Garchow and Moloney applied for the extradition order to be stayed, but Justice Catherine Branson found there were no exceptional circumstances warranting a stay.

Dismissing the application, Justice Branson said she had considered their compliance with bail orders, their voluntary appearances in court and their poor mental and physical health.

Garchow is a priest and Moloney a brother with the St John of God Catholic order.

The allegations against the pair date back to the 1970s when they worked at Marylands, a school for boys with learning and intellectual disabilities in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The men face a combined total of more than 30 charges.

 
 

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