Catholic Brother William Standen Jailed for Abusing Boys at Nsw Boarding School
By Sarah Hawke
A Catholic brother found guilty of indecently assaulting 18 boys at a boarding school in southern New South Wales has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison. William Peter Standen was sentenced on 18 charges in the District Court in Sydney over offences that occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In March, he pleaded guilty to the offences, which happened when he was a year seven boarding-house master. In sentencing the 67-year-old, Judge Anthony Blackmore described what the victims, who were mostly 12, had suffered. The court heard Standen repeatedly asked the victims to go to his room after dark where he slapped and rubbed their naked buttocks, in another case he rubbed the genitals of a boy on a camping trip. "These children were vulnerable, they were in year seven," the judge said. "The victims had psychological scars while the offender went on to pursue a successful career in education." Standen later became the principal of Sydney's St Marys Cathedral College until he retired in 2010. He was arrested at Sydney Airport in August 2014. The judge said there had been no reports that Standen had re-offended after he left the school in the early 1980s. Standen believed he was disciplining children: Judge Judge Blackmore also told the court that Standen believed his actions were a behaviour of discipline. "He maintains they were not sexual or inappropriate," the judge said. A number of victims were in the court for sentencing. One, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said after the sentencing he had no idea that other children had also suffered. "When I heard all the statements, the statements were the same and to think that we couldn't share that and we had no idea what was going on behind those closed doors, it's shocking, it shocked me, I thought I was alone," he said. He said the victims could now move forward in their healing process. "This is just one of, part of the little steps that go towards me being able to give my children a cuddle and really feel love," the victim said. "I think the fact that we've shared this and we can share this with each other now is really big as well, we can sit down and have a beer, have a coffee with one of these other victims here and say 'hey, we're survivors now'," he added. Christian Brothers Oceania issued a statement apologising without reservation to those who suffered abuse at the hands of Standen. "To you and your families we express our profound sorrow and regret at what has taken place," Brother Peter Clinch, the leader of the Christian Brothers Oceania province, said. "As innocent children you should have been protected and you were tragically let down." Standen will spend a minimum non-parole period of four years and seven months behind bars.
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