The Church Recruited This Child-abuser for Training to Become a Priest

Broken Rites
July 11, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/299

A seminary student, Paul Lane, committed child-sex crimes in the 1970s while he was training to become a Catholic priest in New South Wales. He eventually dropped out of the seminary. Forty years later, on 7 July 2014, one of his victims obtained justice by getting Lane convicted in court.

In Newcastle Local Court, Lane (aged 67 and living in Ashfield, Sydney, in 2014) was charged with four of incidents of indecent assault, committed against a 14-year-old boy in the Maitland parish in early 1975. [Broken Rites will refer to this boy as "Basil" - not his real name.] Lane agreed to plead guilty to two of the charges, and therefore the other two charges were dropped.

According to court documents, Lane was studying for the priesthood in the early 1970s at a Sydney seminary, aged in his mid to late twenties. When he was advanced in his training, Lane spent some time in the Maitland diocese, north of Sydney, gaining experience in parish work. Initially he stayed as a guest in the bishop's house, where several other priests also lived, servicing the cathedral parish.

A senior priest from the cathedral parish took Lane to Basil's house to introduce Lane to Basil's family, who then invited Lane to visit them for meals. Lane took a special interest in 14-year-old son Basil. When Lane dropped out of his seminary course, this family offered to accommodate him in their home. As good Catholics, the parents trusted a fkuture priest having access to their young son.

Court documents alleged that frequently, when Lane was alone with Basil, he would mis-treat the boy indecently. Lane would walk up behind Basil and would cuddle him before invasively placing his hand down the boy’s pants and mauling the boy's genitals. The boy felt unable to tell his "devout Catholic" parents about this clergy abuse and he was also unable to tell them that he did not want to be left alone with Lane. Therefore, the abuse continued, including later when his parents encouraged Basil to visit Lane at a private address which Lane moved to in Newcastle after giving up his seminary course.

In his police statement, Basil said that, as an adult, he eventually reported the assaults to several senior members of the clergy, did not receive any worthwhile support. Eventually, in 2000, aged about 40, he reported the abuse to the NSW Police and received much more help from detectives who were investigating church-related child-abuse.

In a separate impact statement tendered to court for the July 2014 sentencing, Basil said the abuse had a profound effect on him. He wrote:

"My devout parents always kept an ‘open house’ to the many clergy travelling through Maitland in offering a bed and a free feed. Paul Lane chose to abuse my parents' love and hospitality by sexually assaulting me. His actions made me never feel safe in the place I called home. His actions hid the protection my parents always believed they gave to me.

"Sadly I lost my trust in all that I had valued in the Church. It has affected my trust in others ever since the abuse occurred.

"As a young teen when this abuse was occurring I always knew this was so wrong, however I found it too difficult to tell Mum and Dad what was happening to me. Not because they would not believe me, but because I was too embarrassed and ashamed. I did not want to make them feel hurt.

"This was so much a troubling time of my life! In some way I was blaming myself, and it was very confusing.

"It was usual to spend time with the clergy and the fear of knowing that I would have to spend time at his residence and waiting for another assault made me feel sick, nervous, scared and alone . . .

"Since then my relationships have been affected. Being complimented and physically touched has made me feel uncomfortable and not at ease with myself and with people around me.

"Paul Lane’s actions have prevented me from being the person I wanted to be as his actions have haunted me every day.

"Through the support and encouragement of my friends I now speak of my assaults and feel relieved that these actions are no longer a ‘secret thing’

"I am no longer scared of the torments and assaults Paul Lane brought upon me and my family. But I want him to know that what he did was wrong. And I would not want it to ever happen to anyone else."

Sentencing Paul Lane, magistrate Michael Morahan noted that, in another court case in 2011, Lane was convicted for aggravated indecent assault involving a different child and was sent to jail in 2011 for that crime. Mr Morahan said that, as Lane has already does his time in jail after the 2011 case, he would sentence Lane to a two-year good-behaviour bond in the 2014 case.