Anglican Directory of Clergy a 'Stud Book'

The 9 News
November 25, 2013

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/11/25/14/26/anglican-directory-of-clergy-a-stud-book



Four years after an Anglican clergyman was jailed for sexually abusing children at a NSW Anglican home he was still on the Church's "stud book", a witness has told a national abuse inquiry.

The official Anglican directory of clergy was jokingly referred to as the stud book, a former registrar of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton told the national inquiry into child sex abuse in Sydney on Monday.

Pat Comben, apologised for the use of the "totally inappropriate name", which he used when he was being questioned about what he did about disciplining Rev Allan Kitchingman, a convicted sex offender.

Kitchingman was jailed for two and a half years in 2002 for indecent assault on two boys who were under his care at the North Coast Children's Home, when he was chaplain in the 1970s.

Mr Comben was being questioned on what steps he took to report clergy who had allegedly sexually abused children at the home to police.

He said that the home was dealing with allegations against another priest Campbell Brown when he found Kitchingman's name in the "stud book".

"I got a shock to find he was there. I can remember getting up from my desk walking into the bishop (Keith Slater) and saying Kitchingman is still in the 'stud book'.

"I think the bishop said 'you had better phone Newcastle'," he said.

Kitchingman had been convicted in 1968 of one count of indecent assault of a male while he was a priest in the Diocese of Newcastle.

He got a good behaviour bond and the bishop there wrote him a reference.

The bishop also got Kitchingman a job in Grafton.

Mr Comben said he did not act on Kitchingman because the offences had not happened when he was there and he was too busy dealing with the allegations against other clergy.

The Anglican Church has a process where a Professional Standards Director (PSD) should deal with disciplining and defrocking errant clergy.

The Grafton diocese did not have a full-time PSD at the time and a committee was dealing with these matters.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is continuing in Sydney.