Jail Time for "Abused" Serial Church Burglar

By Steve Butcher
WA Today
November 28, 2012

http://www.watoday.com.au/victoria/jail-time-for-abused-serial-church-burglar-20121127-2a5sv.html

A MAN allegedly sexually abused by a priest as a child who exacted revenge by unleashing his ''deeply entrenched hatred'' for the Catholic order by burgling dozens of its churches in suburban Melbourne has been jailed for a maximum of four years.

A judge had heard the man's ''rancour and rage'' against the Catholic Church surfaced 20 years ago in South Australia when he was first convicted of ''sacrilege'' offences.

His barrister told the County Court earlier this month that after his client's removal a year ago as a worker with the St Vincent de Paul Society, the ''rage and anger that has so dominated his life took over and he became unstable''.

Barrister Mark Regan said the man, now 44, had a ''deeply entrenched belief system of the wrong perpetrated against him'' by the priest and the Catholic Church, which he resented.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to 59 charges of mostly burglary, aggravated burglary and theft that involved more than 30 churches and related properties.

Prosecutor Catharine Sedgwick detailed how the man offended over seven months from Camberwell to Dandenong, Essendon to Ringwood and Epping, Balwyn and Coburg until his arrest last May.

Ms Sedgwick said he ransacked offices and stole a total of $23,850 from safes, cash boxes, donation envelopes and raffle payments, sometimes while priests and others slept.

The man's mother confirmed in evidence that her son was about six when he told her that a priest had molested him and that, while she reported it to the police, ''nothing was ever done''.

The judge on Tuesday said the man had ''harboured a great resentment'' and that his ''assertions'' about being molested had motivated his crimes.

While on the ''balance of probabilities'' there was ''force behind'' his contentions, she told him he could not keep ''utilising'' his past as a reason for offending.

She noted his ''disordered'' lifestyle, long criminal history and issues with mental functioning. While the offences were ''non-confrontational'', their gravity was in their repetitiveness. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 2? years.