David Edwin Rapson Jailed for Drugging, Raping Young Boys
By Shannon Deery
THE former vice-principal of a Catholic school who sexually preyed on young boys over two decades has been jailed. David Edwin Rapson, 60, was today sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment for seriously sexually assaulting eight young boys during the 1970s and 1980s. Seven of the boys were boarders at an outer-suburban college that cannot be named for legal reasons. The County Court heard today as early as 1977 Rapson was undertaking wholesale drugging of a group of boys in order to subdue them. He would ply them with cigarettes and alcohol before either indecently assaulting or raping them. Judge Liz Gaynor said Rapson had displayed an entirely predatory behaviour that involved the misuse of his power as a religious man, and as a teacher. "It was brazen, it was manipulative, and it was heartless," she said. "The rapes committed on complainant H, at which time you were a deputy principal of the school were utterly cruel, sadistic and violent." The court heard some students were physically assaulted while one was bound and gagged before being raped. Rapson's crimes were so evil he was kicked out of the church by Pope John Paul II in 2004 after years of lobbying by his Melbourne superiors. He was found guilty by a jury in August of eight counts of indecent assault and five counts of rape over the attacks. One victim told police after a priest walked in on Rapson abusing him, Rapson told the priest: "You know what we do here. God made us this way and it's his fault." The victim said the other priest told Rapson he had been "trying to resist it" and urged Rapson to do the same. The former priest has already served one prison term after being jailed in 1992 for abusing a 15-year-old student at the school, years after victims first complained to college leaders. "These were dreadful crimes against powerless and vulnerable victims who were entirely in your power as residents of the school, and by virtue of the enormous authority and stature granted to Catholic priests by Catholic congregations and by the parents who had unwittingly placed their sons in your entirely predatory hands," Judge Gaynor said. "You were a priest, a teacher, and your offending occurred at a time when the power of your position in both roles acted as an effective deterrent to exposure and enabled you to continue on." Judge Gaynor said despite running countless lives Rapson had shown no remorse. "While your conviction for this most criminal offending may bring some comfort to your victims, it will by no means end the torturous paths your vile exploitation of them set them upon." Rapson, who has been placed on the sex offenders register for life, must serve at least 10 years' imprisonment before becoming eligible for release. Contact: shannon.deery@news.com.au
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