Ex-Priest Says Child-Sex Offences Were Normal Among Clergy in His Particular Order, Broken Rites, February 2, 2014

Ex-Priest Says Child-Sex Offences Were Normal Among Clergy in His Particular Order

Broken Rites
February 2, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/273

A convicted pedophile priest (Father David Edwin Rapson, who belonged to one of Australia's most prominent Catholic religious orders) has "blown the whistle" on his colleagues in this religious order, claiming that they too were committing sexual offences on schoolboys. Broken Rites has discovered Rapson's claim in some court documents.

Broken Rites has just obtained a transcript of proceedings at the Melbourne County Court (on 17 October 2013), when Judge Liz Gaynor sentenced Rapson to jail for crimes committed against eight boys at a Melbourne Catholic boys' school. This school was operated by priests and religious Brothers who belonged to an Australia-wide religious order (that is, they did not belong to a specific geographic entity such as the Melbourne archdiocese).

Before sentencing Rapson (for multiple rapes and indecent assaults), Judge Gaynor acknowledged that Rapson's lawyer wanted the judge to take some other things into account on behalf of Rapson. For example:

According to the defence lawyer (quoted in Paragraph 28 of Judge Gaynor's sentencing remarks), "it was clear [that] old and more experienced priests were engaging in sexual abuse of the students" [at this school]."
Judge Gaynor noted [in Paragraph 31] that Rapson began his teaching career at this boarding school, "which, I accept, harboured priests and brothers engaged in sexual abuse of their students."
Judge Gaynor told Rapson [in Paragraph 33]: "...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 parents who unwittingly placed their sons in your entirely predatory hands."
Judge Gaynor told Rapson that, at this (his first) school, "you very soon became an enthusiastic member of the sexually deviant group of religious [people] operating at the school at the time."

Judge Gaynor was sentencing Rapson after a jury found him guilty of 14 charges (five charges of rape and nine charges of indecent assault), during Rapson's two periods of work at this Melbourne Catholic boys' school (firstly from 1973 to 1977 and secondly from 1987 to 1990). Of the five rapes, four were committed against one particular student in 1990 (this was 17 years after Rapson's religious order first turned him loose on his victims).

Judge Gaynor sentenced Rapson to a total of 13 years' imprisonment. He must serve at least 10 years' imprisonment before becoming eligible to apply for release on parole. He has been placed on the sex offenders register for life.

FOOTNOTE (by Broken Rites):

In her sentencing remarks regarding David Edwin Rapson, Judge Gaynor did not mention the name of this Melbourne school or the name of the religious order that owned it.

The eight boys in this 2013 sentencing were not Rapson's only victims in Melbouirne. Other victims of Rapson from this Melbourne school had contacted the Victoria Police much earlier, resulting in Rapson being jailed in 1992 and again in 1993 (for crimes committed by him at this school from 1973 onwards).

From 1978 to 1986, Father Rapson's religious order posted him to schools in New South Wales and Tasmania, where he continued to target boys. Victorian courts can deal only with crimes committed within Victoria. Any crimes committed in NSW or Tasmania must be dealt with by the police in those states. But police learn about these crimes only if a victim has a chat with detectives in the Sex Crimes Unit. Too often, the church authorities have managed to discourage victims from contacting the police - for example, by paying compensation to a victim while telling the victim (falsely) that this compensation requires the victim to keep the matter "confidential".

Father David Edwin Rapson belonged to an Australia-wide Catholic religious order (of priests and religious Brothers), which operates several schools and several parishes around Australia.