Abuse Inquirer Paid Principal
By Barney Zwartz
THE Catholic Church's leading investigator into sexual abuse paid $90,000 out of his own pocket to the former principal of a Catholic school whose career was ruined over his stand against a paedophile priest. Peter O'Callaghan, QC, has agreed that he made the payments over several years, saying he did so out of compassion for the principal, who had suffered a mental breakdown. The school involved, Holy Family in Doveton, had as parish priest or assistant priest six sexual abusers. Mr O'Callaghan, the independent commissioner who examines allegations of abuse made under the Melbourne Archdiocese's Melbourne Response, said it was the only time he had made such payments, despite having dealt with more than 330 abuse victims. "It was a one-off. I never did it for anyone else. It was paid for no other reason than to give them [the principal and his wife] assistance," Mr O'Callaghan said. But the former principal, Graeme Sleeman - who has broken his silence about events at Doveton for the first time in 25 years - said that while he was grateful for the payments, he was dissatisfied with the process. A Melbourne Archdiocese spokesman said that until The Age asked about the personal payments, the archdiocese had been totally unaware of them. Mr O'Callaghan said they had been outside the Melbourne Response terms of reference. "What I did was in response to their difficulties. It was bona fide and generous assistance." He said Mr Sleeman wrote to (then) Archbishop George Pell in March 1998 seeking help, and this was referred to him, although Mr Sleeman was not a victim of sexual abuse. "There were delays in my completing the report, for a number of reasons, including the complexity of the matter, the time involved in acting as the Independent Commissioner and other professional commitments. This was undoubtedly regrettable." Mr O'Callaghan made his recommendations to Archbishop Denis Hart in May 2004 and a year later Mr Sleeman was paid $150,000 by the Church. He said that in November 1998 he was advised by Professional Standards in Sydney that Mr Sleeman had suffered a breakdown, and arranged for him to get support from the Church's Carelink agency. Mr O'Callaghan knew Mr Sleeman because he had "extensively interviewed" him in 1997 about two cases of abuse by Doveton parish priest Peter Searson. Mr O'Callaghan said Mr and Mrs Sleeman asked him for help over money lost in coming to Melbourne, undergoing treatment and losing work. "Commencing in December 1998 I paid amounts to them to cover living expenses. I did so because of their financial difficulties and with no expectation that the amounts would be reimbursed by the Sleemans or the archdiocese. "The Sleemans knew that these amounts were being paid by me personally and they repeatedly expressed their gratitude to me for them. This arrangement was unique. Mr Sleeman agreed that he wrote to Mr O'Callaghan in May 2004, thanking him and saying "had it not been for the continuing financial support from your office as the matter dragged on I am really loath to think what might have happened to my family. You will always have my gratitude." He is still grateful today, but says he can no longer remain silent about what happened at Doveton. "The church has continued to cover up, and I was part of that cover-up. But when I was sick, no one wanted to know me." The Doveton parish, formed in 1962, has had an unfortunate record with its priests. The first four parish priests at Doveton all proved to be sexual abusers, though not necessarily at that parish.
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