AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 18 November 2014)
Helped by Broken Rites, some of the victims of Christian Brother Desmond Eric (“Neil”) Richards have achieved justice. On 7 November 2014, a Sydney court ordered that Richards (aged 75) be taken into custody to await his sentence for indecently assaulting young boys in the 1970s and ’80s. The sentence is due to be announced in court on 27 November 2014. The church had known for years about Richards’ crimes but the crimes were concealed from the police (and from the public). And the Christian Brothers appointed him to be in charge of their worldwide website in Rome.
Brother “Neil” Richards has spent more than half a century as a Christian Brother, including as a headmaster, in Catholic schools in Sydney and regional New South Wales. When Desmond Eric Richards joined the order, a new Brother would normally adopt a new forename. Hence, he became Brother “Neil” Richards.
Originally, one victim contacted Broken Rites, which advised him to have a private interview with a Detectives Office of the NSW Police. Later, another victim from a different school came forward. Detectives then investigated and found two more of Brother Richards’ victims.
These four victims were abused between 1972 and 1982. These four were not necessarily his only victims – they are merely four who finally found an opportunity to talk to the detectives. Other ex-students (outside that 20-year period) could possess relevant information which they can still give to the police.
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