Christian Brother David Standen Is Now Facing 31 Assault Charges

Broken Rites
February 13, 2015

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/303

Christian Brother William Peter Standen (known as Brother "David" Standen), who has taught at Catholic schools in Sydney and regional New South Wales, will face a total of 31 child-sex charges when his case comes up for another mention in court in March 2015. The case had a mention in court on 11 February 2015 for a brief administrative process.

The police investigation is being conducted by a unit of detectives at Goulburn, southern NSW, where one of Brother Standen's former schools (St Patrick's College) was located.

According to court documents, Brother Standen is alleged to have assaulted 17 boys at this school between 1978 and 1981.

Brother Standen, aged 65, first appeared in Goulburn Local Court on 17 September 2014 for a brief preliminary procedure. At that stage, he was charged with 11 counts of indecent assault on eight boys aged 12.

Standen's lawyer (Greg Walsh) said at the September court hearing that the defence expected the forthcoming court process to be a short one, involving negotiation with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, with likely pleas of "Guilty".

When the case came up again for another mention in the same court on 15 October 2014, the office of Director of Public Prosecutions stated that the number of charges had increased, with more to come.

On 12 November 2014, the case was mentioned in court for the third time, for another administrative procedure. The court was told that police had laid another 11 charges of indecently assaulting a male after six additional complainants came forward, bringing the total charges then to 29, with more charges possible. The court granted an adjournment to allow time for discussions with the Department of Public Prosecutions to resolve some matters.

On 10 December 2014, Standen appeared again in Goulburn Local Court. The court was told that two new complainants had emerged recently, resulting in two additional charges against Standen. A total of 17 alleged victims had now contacted the police, resulting in a total of 31 charges. Standen's lawyer, Greg Walsh, sought a further adjournment, saying that there were ongoing discussions with the Department of Public Prosecutions over the matters.

On 11 February 2015, defence lawyer Greg Walsh told the court that he had subpoenaed material from the police. Therefore, Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman granted more time for this documentation to change hands. The defence is likely to use this new material in a hearing which is currently scheduled in the Goulburn Local Court for 23 March 2015.

Standen has not formally entered any pleas at this stage.

Standen continues to be on bail.

According to documents tabled in court, Brother Standen was charged under his birth name, William Peter Standen. The documents gave his date of birth as 4 April 1949.

[In the Christian Brothers order, his religious name is Brother "David" Standen. Within the Christian Brothers, he has also been listed as Brother "W.D." Standen.]

Police arrested Standen at 7.15am on 19 August 2014 at Sydney Airport when he arrived in Australia from abroad.

During his teaching career, Brother Standen also spent six years as the deputy principal at St Dominic's College, Penrith, in western Sydney. And he was the principal of St Mary's Cathedral College in inner-Sydney for a decade before he retired in 2010.

The prosecution file has been prepared by the Goulburn Detectives Office in southern NSW. The investigators are Senior Detective Dave Turner and Senior Detective Michael Callegha. A leading officer in this unit is Detective Sergeant Matt Woods.

The detectives are continuing their inquiries.

St Patrick's College Goulburn was formerly a boys-only boarding school, conducted by the Christian Brothers. According to a history book about this school, the Brothers’ involvement at St Patrick’s College was winding down by the mid-1990s.

In 2000, the boys' college merged with a Catholic girls' school, Marian College, to become today's Trinity Catholic College Goulburn.