Priest listed for court in western Sydney re an altar boy, Broken Rites (May 21, 2014)

Priest listed for court in western Sydney re an altar boy

Broken Rites
May 21, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/282

Child-sex charges against a retired senior Catholic priest, Father Richard Cattell, 73, are being scheduled now for the Parramatta Local Court in western Sydney later in 2014. The offences were allegedly committed against an altar boy between 1984 and 1987. In the early 1990s, Father Cattell became the vicar-general assisting a bishop in the administration of western Sydney's parishes.

Cattell is now living in retirement on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The matter had its first mention on 24 March 2014 in Tweed Heads Local Court, which is the New South Wales court that is nearest to the Queensland border. This court hearing was a brief administrative procedure, to enable the matter to be officially filed.

Richard St John Cattell was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent acts.

Cattell was not required to enter a plea in this initial court appearance,

According to court documents, police allege that, between 1984 and 1987, Father Cattell touched and handled the altar boy’s genitalia. It is also alleged that in 1987 he engaged in sexual intercourse without consent with the altar boy.

Police allege that, at the time of the alleged incidents, the accused priest was based at a parish called "Our Lady of the Rosary" in a suburb called St Marys [situated 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, near Penrith].

The former altar boy now lives on the New South Wales north coast, and he made his police statement at the detectives' office at the Manning/Great Lakes Local Area Police Command, where the matter is being handled by Detective Peter Shedden, who is based at Taree.

On 28 February 2014, detectives from the Manning/Great Lakes Local Area Police Command travelled to Tweed Heads, and interviewed Richard Cattell at Tweed Heads police station about the allegations concerning western Sydney.

At Tweed Heads Local Court, Richard Cattell was granted bail after he posted a $1000 bond and agreed he would not approach or contact the former altar boy.

Bail documents reveal that police regarded Richard Cattell as a “low flight risk” because of his age and that he came to the Tweed Heads police station "of his free will” to be interviewed by a detective.

Magistrate Michael Dakin ordered that a police brief should be served on Richard Cattell by 5 May 2014.

The case came up again at Lismore Local Court on 20 May 2014 for an administrative procedure. The Lismore court adjourned the matter to the Parramatta Local Court on a later date in 2014.

Investigations are being continued by Detective Peter Shedden, of Taree.

Investigations about Richard Cattell are also being conducted by:

Brisbane Waters Detectives Office (at Gosford on the NSW central coast); and

Lake Illawarra Detectives Office (in the Wollongong region).

Father Richard St John Cattell was ordained in 1964 for the Sydney archdiocese. His early parishes included Concord West and Lakemba. His parishes in the 1970s included Liverpool, Castle Hill and East Gosford. In 1982, he was listed as being in charge of St Matthew's parish, Windsor.

For the remainder of the 1980s, until 1994, Father Richard Cattell was listed as the parish priest in charge of the "Our Lady of the Rosary" parish in St Marys, near Penrith. The "Our Lady of the Rosary Parish" includes the suburbs of Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Oxley Park, St Marys and Werrington.

In the mid-1980s, parishes in Sydney's outer-west were separated from the Sydney archdiocese to form a new separate western-suburbs diocese, which is called the "Diocese of Parramatta" (because the bishop is located in Parramatta). Father Richard Cattell became a senior priest in the new diocese.

In the early 1990s (until 1994), Father Richard Cattell was the vicar-general of the Parramatta diocese, helping to administer this diocese for Bishop Bede Heather.