Pedophile Priest Michael Charles Glennon Dies in Jail
By Mark Buttler
Glennon, who was convicted of sex charges against children as young as seven, died today in the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.
By 2003 he had been convicted of abusing 15 children, but police believe there were many more victims. He first went to jail in 1978, for molesting a 10-year-old girl in his car. It was the only time he admitted guilt, forcing his many victims to endure long and traumatic criminal trials. Glennon was still a priest after his release from jail for that crime, practising in a freelance capacity mainly to immigrant and Aboriginal communities. Further charges were laid during the 1980s over "sleepovers" Glennon held with children at camps, and more followed throughout the next two decades. Most of his victims were children in his care at the Karaglen camp near Lancefield. Some of the victims were attacked while Glennon was on bail over other sex attacks. But parents continued to trust the fiendish predator, who played guitar and charmed parishioners. In one of his trials a woman gave evidence that she saw Glennon in a bed with a boy one night, but thought nothing of it because she trusted him. ``Well, of course I did. I'm a Catholic, aren't I?'' she told the jury. ``I mean, you go by the cloth. Who else do you trust in this world?'' Glennon didn't qualify for parole after being jailed for some of his crimes in 1991, because he refused to take part in a sex offenders program. Broadcaster Derryn Hinch was jailed for contempt of court after exposing Glennon in a radio campaign. Glennon died of natural causes, aged 69.
TRIALS OF MICHAEL GLENNON May, 1971: Michael Charles Glennon is ordained a Roman Catholic priest but resigns in '84 Nov., 1985: Police charge him with sexually interfering with children. Derryn Hinch starts broadcasting warnings about him on 3AW and is later found guilty of contempt of court Oct., 1987: Hinch spends 12 days in Morwell Prison and is fined $15,000 June, 1991: County Court jury convicts Glennon of five charges and acquits him of another 12 relating to sexual assaults on three girls and a boy under 14. He is jailed with a seven-year minimum term Dec., 1991: Glennon is freed when the Court of Appeal finds that publicity had made a fair trial impossible May, 1992: Back behind bars after the High Court reinstates the convictions and sentence March, 1994: Glennon wins a High Court appeal against a conviction for indecent assault that reduces his nine-year, one-month jail term by a month April, 1999: 65 charges of sex offences against 15 complainants broken into three trials May, 1999: Back in custody after a jury convicts him in the "first trial" of 24 counts relating to six boys between May 1974 and May 1978 Sept, 1999: Pleads not guilty in the "second trial" to 10 counts of sexual misconduct against five victims from January 1982 to December 1984. Trial aborted but a fresh jury convicts him of all but one count Nov., 1999: Jury starts to hear evidence in a "third trial" but is discharged. Glennon jailed for a total of 14? years with a 12? year minimum for both trials March, 2001: Court of Appeal dismisses his appeal in the "first trial" and his 8.5-year jail term remains. But the court upholds his appeal against conviction and sentence in the "second trial" after finding the judge failed to properly direct the jury July, 2003: The "second trial" starts again with only one complainant. Glennon is found guilty of all three counts Oct., 2003: In the "third trial", a County Court jury finds Glennon guilty of 23 charges of abuse on three boys from 1986 to 1991 Nov., 2005: Court of Appeal reduces his 15-year term by 5 years and orders a retrial on some charges.
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