Paedophile Catholic brother underwent psycho-sexual therapy

By Mark Russell
Age
July 8, 2015

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/paedophile-catholic-brother-underwent-psychosexual-therapy-20150708-gi7m1y.html

Bernard Hartman had been a teacher at St Paul's College in Altona between 1972-1983.

A paedophile Catholic brother who preyed on three children in Melbourne before returning to America was ordered by his Marianist religious order to undergo psycho-sexual therapy 26 years before being charged by Victoria Police.

Bernard Hartman, 75, was also required to sign a 'safety plan' in 1997 after the Marianist order became aware child sexual abuse allegations had been made against him in Australia.

The safety plan meant Hartman was not allowed to go anywhere alone.

Hartman, who had been a teacher at St Paul's College in Altona between 1972-1983, appeared in the County Court on Wednesday for a pre-sentence hearing after pleading guilty to four charges of indecently assaulting two girls aged between five to 11 during the 1970s.

He was found guilty by a jury in May 2015 of one count of indecent assault and two counts of assault involving a male student between 1981-1982.

Hartman was acquitted during a second trial of indecently assaulting another student.

Marianist brother David Quigley told the court on Wednesday he had been living with Hartman in St Albans since he was extradited from the US to face the child sex abuse charges in September 2013.

Brother Quigley said it was his role to monitor Hartman and make sure he never went anywhere alone.

He said despite the fact one of Hartman's victims went to Victoria Police in 1993 to report the abuse, the Marianist order in the US was not informed about the abuse claims until 1997.

The Marianist order received a letter from the Catholic Archdiocese in Melbourne, not Victoria Police, alerting them to the claims.

Brother Quigley said Hartman was then sent to a secure New Orleans hospital facility in 1997 where he underwent a one-month psycho-sexual therapy program.

Hartman later attended Alcoholics Anonymous and Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings.

Psychologist Patrick Newton told the court Hartman was horrified at how his "atrocious sin" had affected his victim's lives.

Prosecutor Michael Hennessy said Hartman had grossly abused his position of trust as a religious figure and teacher when abusing the two girls at their homes, and he had to be jailed.

Hartman was regularly invited by the girls' parents to their homes for dinner and he sometimes babysat one of the victims.The girls' brothers had been students at St Paul's at the time.

Mr Hennessy said one of the girls had been sitting on the loungeroom floor while Hartman was drawing pictures one night before he sexually abused her and told her, "it was good for her."

The prosecutor said Hartman, who would often babysit the second girl and put her to bed, told her one night after abusing her: "Did you like that? Did you get a funny feeling?".

Hartman also ordered the girl to undress so he could draw her naked.

Mr Hennessy said Hartman's victims were helpless to stop him because no-one would have believed them if they dared tell anyone.

He described Hartman's offending as "brazen" when preying on young children who had no capacity to understand or complain about what he was doing.

Hartman left Australia in late 1983 and 25 years later US church officials publicly celebrated his 50 years' service as a Marianist brother.

He was not arrested and charged by Victoria Police until 2013 after one of his victims revealed the abuse to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse.

The hearing before Judge James Parrish continues.