Disgraced Priest 'Living a Normal Life'

Courier Mail
July 2, 2012

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/disgraced-priest-living-a-normal-life/story-e6freono-1226415066375

A Catholic priest sacked by the church after serious sexual abuse allegations is living in Armidale in NSW where he has become a prominent citizen, according to ABC TV's Four Corners program.

THE program aired reports that the priest, identified only as Father F, raped young boys in Moree in the 1980s before being transferred to a parish in Parramatta where he continued to sodomise altar boys.

Some of the youths he raped went on to lead tortured lives before committing suicide, it's alleged.

In one case, Four Corners said Father F performed oral sex on 11-year-old altar boy Daniel Powell and then lay on top of him, kissing him and holding him.

In a statement to a court in 2004, Daniel said he imagined himself elsewhere while enduring the sexual assault of the priest.

Daniel's life spiralled into a haze of drugs and alcohol when in 2006, after a civil case, the church paid him compensation of $135,000.

Another former altar boy and Father F victim, Damian Jurd, had received $198,000 from the church in 1998.

He had been molested while Father F was in Moree. On one drive to the presbytery in Narrabri, Damian was sodomised three times.

But the money could not stop the pain and both men were dead by the age of 28 - Daniel hanged himself in 2007 and Damian was found unconscious and died in hospital on New Year's Day 2001.

Four Corners said Father F attended a meeting at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney in September 1992 where he was questioned by three senior priests.

As a result of the investigation Father F was banned from conducting mass, hearing confession or counselling.

In the late 1990s Daniel Powell, then 19, contacted Father F demanding money and the priest turned the tables by getting him arrested for extortion.

But in the ensuing court case, Father F admitted to performing oral sex on young boys, an admission that allowed Daniel to leave court a free man.

Daniel's lawyer Jonathon Davis said he was stunned by the lack of remorse shown by the disgraced priest.

"The lack of contrition or remorse that came along with the admission ... you could not feel anything but disgust at what he had done," Mr Davis said.

Father F also confirmed under oath that he had made the same admission in 1992 while being interviewed by the three senior priests, which the church denies.

Four Corners says that if the claims were made, they should have been passed on to police and not hushed up.

Father F was finally sacked by the church in 2005, and according to Four Corners, has forged a new life in Armidale where he is a prominent figure in the community.

Damian Jurd's father, Max, says it is not right for the former priest to be carrying on as "an ordinary human being".

"I'd like to see justice done, I'd like to see him made accountable for his actions," Mr Jurd said.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.