Disgraced Priest Richard St John Cattell Back behind Bars for Child Sex Offences
By Alison Balding
FORMER St Marys parish priest Richard St John Cattell has been sentenced to two years and six months jail for child sex offences. The 74-year-old faced Penrith District Court today charged with two counts of sexual assault and indecent assault to a child aged under 16. The offences were committed against an altar boy, 12, during the 1980s while he served at Our Lady of the Rosary parish at St Marys. Judge Jennifer English sentenced Cattell to one year and six months for the sexual assault charges and two years and six months for the indecent assault charge to be served concurrently. He will be eligible for supervised parole on August 19, 2016. SEE ALSO: PUSH FOR LIFE SENTENCE FOR CHILD SEX OFFENDERS SEE ALSO: GARY GLITTER FOUND GUILTY In handing down her sentence, Judge English read from the victim’s impact statement where the victim described “feeling worthless” and “deprived of a normal childhood”. Penrith District Court. Judge English said she had taken into account Cattell’s age and recent good behaviour but a full-time custodial sentence was important because “a message must be sent to those who abuse trust”. Cattell, who had pleaded guilty, broke down on the stand when his lawyers asked him of his attitude towards the conduct. “I am extremely ashamed and I deeply regret what I’ve done and the hurt I’ve caused,” Cattell said. “I feel not only for him (the victim) but also his family and friends. “I feel ashamed for the distress I’ve caused to others, particularly my now deceased mother and particularly to my brother - I just feel I’ve let everyone down. “In the 20 years or so since I’ve lived a respectable life and, where there has been opportunity to be of service I have.” When defence lawyers asked Cattell if he has lived an “asexual life” since prison he replied “absolutely”. Prior to sentencing, defence lawyers submitted affidavits in support of Cattell’s “good character” from his brother, Roger Cattell, and friends, referred to as Mr and Mrs Chadwick. The defence argued for a suspended sentence due to Cattell’s co-operation with authorities and the “considerable” length of time between the crime and its reporting. The defence also argued the sexual assault was not aggressive as there was no evidence or claim of force, threats or blackmail to the victim. A psychiatric report was also submitted to support claims from the defence that Cattell was “completely rehabilitated” while serving time in prison in the early 1990s. That three-year sentence - off which only two years were served before Cattell was released on parole - related to a separate but similar series of offences committed on another boy, 14, at a Liverpool parish, charges that Cattell also pleaded guilty to. “There is no need from the viewpoint of the victim or society in general for him to be sent back to custody,” a lawyer for the defence said. The prosecution called for a “full-time custodial sentence” as he explained the victim was just 12-years-old when the first sexual assault took place and the assaults took place when “the victim was under the authority of the accused”.
Documents read by the judge said the first assault involved Cattell fondling his young victim’s genitals in a fold-out bed of Cattell’s church residence at St Marys. Further similar sexual assaults took place during holidays at other locations in country NSW. “The behaviour of the accused represents a gross breach of his trust and position,” the prosecution argued. The prosecution explained the offences involved the victim being taken away and isolated from any support from family or friends, and at times involved the accused laying behind the victim in bed and ejaculating on the victim’s back. “The offences were not isolated and occurred over a number of years,” the prosecution argued. Cattell waved to his family and friends in the gallery as he was taken into custody.
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