Victim horrified to learn alleged abuser continues to preach in Papua New Guinea, by Rory Callinan, Sydney Morning Herald (October 06, 2014)

Victim horrified to learn alleged abuser continues to preach in Papua New Guinea

When David McNamara first complained to the Catholic Church in the 1990s that he had been sexually abused in a church-run home, he believed his abuser would face justice.

And as the years passed and he received a settlement for the abuse at the Kendall Grange home for intellectually disabled boys in NSW, he thought that at the very least his alleged attacker would have left the church and been kept away from children.

But, in August, the 60-year-old realised that the former brother, who had allegedly repeatedly molested him when he was 12, was still working as a Catholic priest, now in Papua New Guinea, and potentially has contact with children.

"I just couldn't believe it," Mr McNamara, a former theatre-lighting director, told the Herald. "It goes to show how poorly the church has behaved. The church hasn't acted on my disclosure. It looks like a cover-up. It disgusts me."

Mr McNamara is the second person to publicly allege abuse by former St John of God brother and now Catholic priest Father Roger "Gabriel" Mount, and has called for the church to take action.

The other alleged victim is a Victorian man Steve Danas,who alleged abuse by the then Brother Mount at a St John of God-run home in Victoria in the 1960s. Both McNamara and Mr Danas received settlements from the church.

But, despite the payouts, which total more than $100,000, the church continues to allow Mount to work as a priest in Papua New Guinea.

Diocesan officials have revealed Mount continues to work as a priest at a remote parish, despite being suspended from parish work in 2011.

The scenario has infuriated Mr McNamara, who wants the church to bring Mount back to Australia to face justice.

"They're perpetuating my suffering," he said.

Mr McNamara alleges Mount sexually abused him when he was sick in bed at the Kendall Grange home at Morisset. He said Mount had put his hands under his pyjamas and touched him.

"I felt sore afterwards and frightened," said Mr McNamara.

He says Mount then regularly abused him in the school's television room. Mount left the order and became a priest in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s.

Mr McNamara said even after Mount left, he was abused by two other St John of God brothers, both of whom have since died.

Mr McNamara had been sent to an orphanage at five after his parents split. At 10, despite not suffering any intellectual disability, McNamara was moved to Kendall Grange, a boarding school for intellectually handicapped boys run by the Catholic St John of God order.

Mr McNamara said just being forced to move to the school had been crushing.

"I was really upset and sad at being sent there and that sadness is still with me today. I started to think that because I was sent there, there must be something wrong with me.

"I'd run away when it all got too much and when I got caught or gave myself in I'd be beaten. The experience at Kendall Grange has left me severely traumatised and I have spent most of my life learning to manage its effects on me."

In the early 1990s, Mr McNamara went to the church to report the abuse. He asked it to do something about his abusers. Mr McNamara said he also rang Mount in PNG.

"He (Mount) just laughed and said that was a long time ago," Mr McNamara said.

Mr McNamara said in 1997 he received an apology and a settlement for about $91000, some of which went on legal fees. "They promised they would look into it," he said.

"Now we know they never did. I'm alarmed that they haven't acted. They (the abusers) should have been prosecuted or given counselling. There's something extremely wrong with this."

On Friday vicar-general for the Port Moresby Archdiocese, Father Ben Fleming, confirmed Mount was still conducting services in Sogeri, a small parish near the Kokoda Track, and living in church accommodation.

But he said Mount was supposed to have been suspended in 2011. Father Fleming declined to comment on why Mount was allowed to work despite the suspension.

Efforts to contact Mount were unsuccessful. Mount has previously denied abusing McNamara or any other child.

Confronted by Fairfax in 2012 about various abuse cases including Mr McNamara's, he denied any wrongdoing and suggested alleged victims were just after money.

Fairfax did not publish details of Mr McNamara's case at the time as he had then not sought to make any public stance on the issue.

Efforts to contact Archbishop John Ribat, who oversees the Port Moresby Dioceses, were unsuccessful.

Nobody was available to comment from the St John of God order.