Pedophile Christian Brother Loses Appeal

By Melissa Iaria
Sydney Morning Herald
November 21, 2012

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pedophile-christian-brother-loses-appeal-20121121-29p23.html

Pedophile Christian Brother Robert Best has lost an appeal against his convictions for abusing a schoolboy in the 1970s.

Best, 71, was jailed last year for a minimum 11 years and three months for sexually abusing young boys during a 20-year period at three schools.

On Wednesday, Victoria's appeals court rejected his appeal on seven of his convictions for indecently assaulting a schoolboy between 1971-74 while Best was principal of St Alipius Primary School in East Ballarat, when the pupil was aged between eight and 11.

In their unanimous judgment, Justices Chris Maxwell, Pamela Tate and Robert Osborn found Best failed to show a miscarriage of justice had occurred during his trial.

Best's defence argued the crown relied entirely on the account of the victim, whose memory was unreliable and tainted by flashbacks.

The defence said the victim's testimony varied in terms of dates, places and identities of others he claimed were there during some of the offences.

But Justice Osborn said the defence failed to show any fault with how the trial was run.

"The complainant's evidence comprised a coherent and credible account of the offending," Justice Osborn wrote in the judgment.

He was also not persuaded by the defence argument that failure to call the victim's mother to testify caused a miscarriage of justice.

"The evidentiary concerns raised on behalf of the appellant do not persuade me either individually or in combination that the jury's verdict was unsafe or unsatisfactory," he said.

Best was found guilty at trial of 21 charges, including the rape of a nine-year-old disabled boy, and later pleaded guilty to a further six.

All 27 charges related to 11 boys he taught at St Alipius primary school in Ballarat, St Leo's College in Box Hill, and St Joseph's College in Geelong between 1969 and 1988.

The Christian Brothers have not expelled Best, and are believed to have spent in excess of $1 million defending him in court, although they did not fund his appeal.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a royal commission into institutional responses to allegations of child sex abuse in Australia, as Victoria pursues its own parliamentary inquiry.