Principal lied over claim that church was to blame for abuse

By Sarah Elks
Australian
February 19, 2014

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/principal-lied-over-claim-that-church-was-to-blame-for-abuse/story-e6frg6n6-1226832053691#

THE Catholic Church has accused one of its veteran educators of lying under oath to blame the church for his failure to report to police serious allegations of child sexual abuse.

In a heated exchange before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse yesterday, senior barrister Jane Needham SC_ for the church _ repeatedly accused sacked principal Terence Hayes of lying and “making up stories” to get himself “out of trouble”.

An emotional Mr Hayes “categorically” denied lying, but yesterday made a series of concessions about his failures in handling abuse allegations levelled at serial pedophile Gerard Vincent Byrnes, who molested and raped 13 girls, mostly in his classroom during class time, at Mr Hayes’ Toowoomba school in 2007 and 2008.

In 2009, The Australian revealed Mr Hayes failed to report to police an allegation by a nine-year-old girl in September 2007 that Byrnes had put his hands up her skirt and inside her shirt. It wasn’t until November 2008 that Byrnes was arrested after another molested girl’s mother complained to police.