Accused Child Abuser Denied Suppression Order
By Mark Russell
A magistrate has rejected an application by a former Catholic priest to stop child sex abuse claims against him being aired in public. Magistrate Greg McNamara said the case involving David Rapson was a matter of public interest. Rapson's defence lawyer Brad Newton had asked for any further details about the case against him to be suppressed, claiming the publicity was prejudicial to his chances of a fair trial. But Mr McNamara disagreed, saying that if the case did go to trial, a jury would not be selected for many months. The magistrate said it was obvious there had been a great deal of publicity about the case since it began on Tuesday, but he was not sure if this was because of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's announcement of a royal commission into child sex abuse. "The issue (child sex abuse) is of great concern to the community," Mr McNamara said. He said the reporting of the case so far in the media had been based on factual matters before the court. The magistrate said he could not suppress the case just because it was embarrassing Rapson. Rapson, 59, has been charged with one count of rape, five counts of indecent assault, four counts of indecently assaulting a child under 16, and one count of gross indecency from 1973 to 1990. He had been a teacher and former vice-principal at Rupertswood. A witness, 50, who cannot be named, told the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday that as Rapson began to abuse boys one night at the Salesian College Rupertswood, he told another priest, who was urging him to resist the temptation: "God made us this way and it's his fault". One of Rapson's alleged victims claimed he had given a number of boys a cup of Milo which had an acrid taste before abusing them. Another alleged victim told the court he was a Year 7 student at Rupertswood in 1985 when other students told him if you went to the infirmary "they (the priests) would give you something to drink and then touch you up". He remembered one afternoon being told to go to Rapson's office to show him his school work. "I wanted to go home but if a priest tells you to do something then you do it," he said in a statement tendered to the court. The witness said Rapson showed him a desk drawer filled with lollies, money and cigarettes and asked if he wanted anything. Rapson then allegedly grabbed the then 14-year-old boy but the boy fought back, punching Rapson in the face. "I ran from his office and ran up the stairs and burst into tears," the alleged victim said. "I was shitting myself. I was absolutely bricking it. "I was 14 years old at the time and in hindsight I dodged a bullet." The committal hearing continues. []
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