Father Ronald Mulkearns, Ex-catholic Bishop of Ballarat Testifies in Priest’s Child Sex Case
By Shannon Deery
KEEPER of secrets Father Ronald Mulkearns has broken his silence about how he handled complaints of child sexual abuse while the Catholic bishop of Ballarat for more than two decades. Until now Fr Mulkearns has avoided giving evidence at inquiries into institutional sexual abuse, citing health issues, meaning three decades of secrets from his tenure in Ballarat have remained sealed. But he has been forced to testify in a prosecution against former priest Robert Claffey who is charged with a string of sexual assault charges. Mr Claffey is charged with 14 counts of indecent assault, one count of committing an indecent act on a child under the age of 16 and one count of buggery on a girl. Fr Mulkearns appeared at the Geelong Magistrates Court today but gave little away in his first sitting, answering “I don’t recall” to more than a dozen questions. But he admitted that complaints must have been made about Fr Claffey, “because action was taken”. The court heard the father of an alleged victim complained to Bishop Mulkearns about Fr Claffey’s behaviour in 1989. He allegedly told him his son had been having behavioural problems, and that Fr Claffey had “misbehaved” with him. Documents tendered in court revealed Bishop Mulkearns called a meeting with Fr Claffey the following day and the priest resigned effective immediately. It was alleged Fr Claffey admitted “there had been inappropriate behaviour and that what he did was wrong”. Fr Mulkearns’s appearance at the hearing has increased pressure for him to appear at the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse when it resumes its Ballarat hearing later this year. Cardinal George Pell, who worked closely alongside Bishop Mulkearns, has flagged he would attend the hearing following mounting pressure. Fr Mulkearns has previously admitted mishandling cases of sexual abuse while responsible for the Ballarat Archdiocese between 1971 and 1997. Under his watch, paedophile clergy including Gerald Ridsdale, Ted Dowlan, Stephen Farrell and Robert Best continued to molest hundreds of young children. It had been alleged he routinely shuffled priests around the diocese. Fr Mulkearns, who is now retired and lives on the Great Ocean Rd, also allegedly destroyed documents relating to sexual abuse matters to help avoid the crimes ever being detected by authorities. Ridsdale, who has admitted molesting hundreds of kids, has claimed that by the 1980s his offending was an open secret. The hearing continues.
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