A priest, 88, is convicted for a 1970s buggery

Broken Rites
July 1, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/240

An Australian jury has convicted a priest (Father James Henry Scannell, 88) on a charge of buggery, committed against a 12-year-old boy more than 40 years ago. After the assault, the priest required the boy to take part in Confession and ordered him not to tell anybody about the assault, the court was told. The victim (now in his fifties) finally reported this crime to police after learning that his aunt's funeral in 2010 was to be conducted by this priest.

A jury returned its guilty verdict in the Melbourne County Court on 1 July 2014. Father Scannell is listed in the 2013 edition of the official Australian Catholic Directory as a "Supplementary Priest" of the Melbourne archdiocese, which is the largest diocese in Australia. Supplementary priests are no longer in charge of a parish, but they are available for relieving other priests or for conducting weddings or funerals. Father Scannell has the letters "PE" (pastor emeritus) after his name, which means that the Melbourne archdiocese had awarded him the honour of being a distinguished priest.

In the early 1970s, according to court documents, Father Scannell was stationed at St Anne's parish in East Kew,  a leafy Melbourne suburb, where the 12-year-old served attended with his aunt.

Father Scannell (date of birth 17 April 1926) assaulted the boy at the priest's parish house between August 1970 and July 1972 when the boy was aged between 11 and 13. The priest was then in his mid-forties.

Father Scannell pleaded not guilty to one charge of buggery. This plea necessitated a jury trial.

Father Scannell led the boy into his bedroom and then sexually assaulted him one day when the boy was at the priest's house working for pocket money, the court was told.

During the trial, prosecutor Kristie Churchill told the jury that the boy was "frozen in fear" and experienced pain and discomfort while being assaulted.

Afterwards, the boy was told to have a shower and participate in "Confession" (that is, the priest provided forgiveness for the boy's "sins") before the boy walked home crying, the jury was told. The boy never returned to Scannell's house.

Ms Churchill said the boy kept the allegation to himself for years, but in 2010 reacted with shock when told by his sister that Father Scannell would conduct the funeral for their aunt.

The victim said he then decided that he had felt ashamed for long enough and therefore he reported the alleged sexual assault to police.

The prosecutor said Father Scannell's reaction at being told he was not welcome to perform the funeral was also notable. "He simply says OK, doesn't ask why, just says OK," she said.

Ms Churchill said the complainant, aged 55 at the time of the trial, is a reliable and believable witness who had given his evidence in graphic detail and "like it was".

Father Scannell's defence lawyer told the jury that it was difficult to prove one person's allegation against another when so much time had elapsed.

After the Jury's verdict, Judge David Parsons ordered Scannell to return to court in August for a pre-sentence hearing. This hearing is where the prosecutor and the defence would make submissions to the court about what sort of sentence should be imposed on Scannell. After this, there would another hearing at which the judge would pronounce sentence. Until then, Scannell has been granted bail.

The Victoria Police investigation was conducted by Leading Senior Constable Tracey van Wyngaarden, of the Sexual Offences and Child-abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) in Box Hill, Melbourne. This SOCIT office is still available for receiving any further information about James Henry Scannell.