Paedophile Christian Brother Ted Bales Has Jail Sentence Increased after Prosecution Appeal
ABC News
A Christian Brother and convicted paedophile who abused dozens of boys while working at schools across Victoria has had his jail sentence increased, after the Court of Appeal found it to be inadequate. Ted Bales, 65, was jailed in March for six years after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting boys, aged between eight and 14, when he was a teacher and headmaster at a number of Christian Brother colleges. He was given a non-parole period of three years. But the state's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) then launched an appeal against the jail term, arguing it was inadequate. Court of Appeal today ruled in favour of the DPP and resentenced Bales to eight years and five months' jail, with a five-year no-parole period. Bales, a notorious paedophile, changed his name from Edward Dowlan to avoid publicity after first being jailed for child sex offences in the 1990s. He then pleaded guilty earlier this year to 34 new charges of indecent assault and gross indecency, for abusing young boys in the 1970s and 80s. His youngest victim was eight years old. Bales' abuse exceptionally serious: Court of Appeals In court documents, the DPP argued the original sentence handed to Bales was "manifestly inadequate in all the circumstances", and highlighted the profound impact the abuse had on his victims. It also said "he has not expressed any remorse or contrition for his offending". The Court of Appeal agreed. "The respondent's absence of remorse, coupled with the number of victims and the period over which the offences took place, warranted a non-parole period that was significantly more than half of the head sentence," it said. "The maximum sentence for the offence of indecent assault at the relevant time was five years' imprisonment. "On any view, the offence in this case was an exceptionally serious example of its kind. "Notwithstanding the mitigating circumstances upon which counsel for the respondent relied, in our opinion a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for this offence was manifestly inadequate." Sentence welcomed but 'brings no joy, relief' for survivors Guy McNamara was abused by Bales while at in Cathedral College East Melbourne and said it was disappointing the case was drawn out. "It's not good news, because there's never any good news when it comes to this. It's mixed emotions, really," he said. By the time he got to my school it had been going on for 10 years. The anger never goes away. Guy McNamara, abuse survivor "It's vindication for the hard work of the DPP and the [Victoria Police] SANO taskforce, but in reality the original sentence was a complete joke. "It's disappointing it's taken another six months of everyone's time, money and anguish ... to be dragged on." Mr McNamara said the verdict was important for the memory of some of his classmates who had since died, but it would never make up for Bale's actions, or the Catholic Church's response. "No [jail time] will bring us joy or relief, those words don't exist. It's still disappointing the way the church has handled it all," he said. "By the time he got to my school it had been going on for 10 years. The anger never goes away. You're angry with the system." In a statement, the head of the Christian Brothers Oceanic Province said the organisation had a "steadfast" commitment to addressing abuse by its members. "On behalf of all Christian Brothers, I reiterate our enduring apology for what's taken place," Brother Peter Clinch said. "Nothing can undo the fact that young people entrusted to our care were tragically let down. "However we will continue to work with those who were abused by Ted Bales with care, compassion and dignity and do what we can to help heal lives damaged by his abuse."
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