Perverted priest David Edwin Rapson jailed for attacks on boys

By Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
May 11, 2015

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/perverted-priest-david-edwin-rapson-jailed-for-attacks-on-boys/story-fni0fee2-1227350112507

Former priest David Rapson.

A PERVERTED priest who plied young boys with cigarettes and alcohol before raping them has been jailed for at least nine years.

David Edwin Rapson, 61, was today sentenced to a maximum jail term of 12-and-a-half years for the second time over the assault of a string of young boys.

As he was marched out of court by prison staff a victim yelled to him: “I hope you die in jail, dog”.

In 2013 Rapson was jailed for 13 years for his crimes but was released on appeal after serving just a year of that sentence.

He was ordered to face new trials and was last month he was found guilty of five charges of rape and six of indecent assault after four secret County Court trials.

The court heard today Rapson was a sexual predator who preyed on his victims in a way that was almost “sadistic”.

Rapson, who maintains his innocence, abused six boys between the 1970s and 1990s at a Victorian Catholic boys boarding school.

His crimes were so repulsive and so widespread he was defrocked by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

One student, who was 15 when he was molested by Rapson, told an earlier County Court trial that he was ordered not to come back to the school after accusing Rapson of assaulting him.

Another claimed that another priest witnessed Rapson molest him in the 1970s but did not move to stop the abuse.

He told police after the priest walked in on Rapson abusing him,

Rapson told the priest: “You know what we do here. God made us this way and it’s his fault.”

The victim said the other priest told Rapson he had been “trying to resist it” and urged Rapson to do the same.

Another victim told police Rapson attacked him in his office in 1988.

He said he was boarding at the college when Rapson invited him to his office after “lights out” to play computer games.

He said he was given a drink that made him a “little bit dizzy” and later woke up in pain.

“I must have passed out or fallen asleep. When I woke up I was on the floor in the foetal position right next to the computer desk and felt a large amount of pain,” he said.

“Father Rapson was on his hands and knees lying over me.

“I tried to move but I couldn’t because he was on top of me and he was a big man.”

The man said Rapson raped him before he got up and fled the office.

“He yelled at me in a voice like the devil and said, ‘Come back.’ I was too scared and just ran all the way back to my dormitory.”

The parents of one victim said they were thrilled justice had finally been done.

“We thank the people of constant goodwill, the various agencies and institutions for their consistent support and care to our son and his family over the past two-and-a-half years,” they said in a statement.

“With due respect to the Catholic church leadership ... my husband and I lament the absence of practical pastoral support during our quest to bring healing and stability to our son.”