Archbishop Wilson admits St Ann's case could have been handled better

By Mark Colvin
ABC - PM
March 24, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2014/s3970377.htm

MARK COLVIN: At the child abuse Royal Commission hearings in Adelaide, the Archbishop of that Archdiocese, Philip Wilson, has admitted that the cases of intellectually disabled children abused at the St Ann's special school could have been handled better.

Archbishop Wilson gave evidence that on taking office, he took steps to have the paedophile Brian Perkins extradited from Queensland after the police investigation had stalled.

But he conceded that the way he dealt with the families of the abused boys could have been better.

Samantha Donovan reports.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Philip Wilson became the Archbishop of Adelaide in late 2001.

By then, 10 years had gone by since police had become aware that as many as 30 intellectually disabled boys had been abused by convicted paedophile Brian Perkins, who'd been employed by the St Ann's special school as a bus driver.

Perkins was in Queensland after skipping bail.

Archbishop Wilson told the royal commission today that soon after he became Archbishop, he spoke to the South Australia police commissioner of the day, Mal Hyde, about having Perkins extradited from Queensland.

PHILIP WILLIAMS: I believe before I had direct contact with the commissioner that Mr Dealey had written in a letter raising the issue and making the offer on the part of the Archdiocese that if it was a matter of finance to bring him back that we would be willing to pay. And then, I went to see the commissioner directly as we were about to make public statements about this, and I wanted him to know that's what we were doing.

We would do whatever we could to ensure that Perkins came back and faced trial.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Royal Commission has heard that the Archbishop at the time the abuse allegations first emerged in 1991, Leonard Faulkner, wasn’t notified by the school's board of management and governors.

Archbishop Wilson agreed today that his predecessor should have been notified that the abuse had occurred.

SOPHIE DAVID: Would you agree Archbishop that, had that been done, the families of the students could well have known of these allegations and Mr Perkins’ alleged sexual misconduct as early as 1991?

PHILIP WILSON: Yes.

SOPHIE DAVID: And that way would have been spared 10 years of not knowing or not having any explanation for behaviours of their children?

PHILIP WILSON: Yes.

SOPHIE DAVID: Or being able to deal with those behaviours. Do you agree with that?

PHILIP WILSON: I agree with that.

SOPHIE DAVID: If the structures that were in place in 1991 had worked, that would have all been ventilated 10 years earlier than it was?

PHILIP WILSON: That's right.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Royal Commission has heard that after Philip Wilson became Archbishop, the Archdiocese of Adelaide set up a process to compensate the families of the boys who had been abused that was separate from the church's Towards Healing process.

Families were offered between $50,000 and $100,000 by the Catholic Church based on the likelihood that their son had been abused by Perkins.

Some parents have told the commission they are still angry about the lack of communication about that process from Archbishop Wilson and the church.

Counsel assisting the commission, Sophie David, asked Archbishop Wilson if he now agreed some families may have felt excluded from the church process.

PHILIP WILSON: Yes, I thought that that kind of information and contact was going on with people through the network that we set up of people to care for the victims and their families. But looking at that now, I can see that it was a factor that we should have given more emphasis to.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Archbishop Wilson told the commission the pay-outs to the affected St Ann's families from the Archdiocese of Adelaide totalled $2.3 million and the church received $800,000 back from Catholic Church Insurance.

One of the principles of the Catholic Church's Towards Healing process is humility.

Counsel for the Archdiocese of Adelaide, Jane Needham, asked the Archbishop if those pay-outs had been made in that spirit.

PHILIP WILSON: It's a bit embarrassing to put it like that. But, yes, I suppose it is. I think in the light of the sexual abuse reality within the Catholic Church, we have plenty to be humble about. And it's a really terrible thing that any child has been affected like that on our watch. And it's doubly so because of these children at St Ann's school.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Royal Commission has heard that since Archbishop Wilson took office, changes have been made to the way the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide deals with child abuse.

A Child Protection and Police Check Unit are now in place.

Archbishop Wilson told counsel assisting the commission, Sophie David, he has communicated the changes in his archdiocese to other parts of the church.

PHILIP WILSON: Both interstate at the national level, and also on the international level too.

I would occasionally share information with other bishops too, telling them what we're doing here.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Royal Commission’s hearings on the St Ann's case in Adelaide have now finished.