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Court hears Catholic teen molested by priest at Wollongong school
By Nick Mclaren
The victim in an alleged Wollongong historic child abuse case has repeatedly rejected claims in court he made up the allegations. The alleged abuse involved former priest Father Patrick Kervin at Holy Spirit College in Bellambi. The student was aged 15 when the alleged abuse occurred in the 1980s. Now aged in his 40's, the student who cannot be named, told the court Kervin called him to his office to console him as his mother was ill. He described how Kervin put his hand on his knee then slid his hand up his leg, touching his genitals as he leaned in to kiss him. "I could feel the bristles of his beard on my lips," he said. Kervin has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His lawyer, Barrister Peter Skinner, told the court contradictory evidence over when the alleged offence occurred and details such as which hand was used point to the story being made up, possibly for financial gain. "You switched not only years, but contexts," Skinner told the court. "You have dressed it up to give it the appearance of veracity." "That's not true," came the reply. After repeated questioning lasting over an hour the former student became visibly distressed and raised concerns about the court process. "I don't know if the abuse is worse or this process," he said. The former student also linked the alleged assault by Kervin to another alleged assault at a Wollongong Primary school in the 1980's, suggesting he didn't initially come forward to tell anybody about either of the assaults because he thought he would be in trouble with God. He later took the allegations to the church and police. The former student says he rejected repeated offers of money from the Catholic Church because all he wanted was for them to admit it did happen, and to say sorry. He revealed most recent offer was for $125,000. The case continues.
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