AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 25 March 2015)
A Canberra priest (Father Edward Evans, aged 85) began facing a trial in the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court on 25 March 2015. He is charged with alleged offences against a child in the 1990s. Father Evans is based in Canberra, where he has been acting as a chaplain to the German-speaking community. Among other duties, Father Evans has been associated with St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Braddon (Canberra), where German-language Masses have been conducted on Sundays.
Fr Evans was interviewed by police in 2013 and was charged with three acts of indecency between 1994 and 1997. He was accused of indecently touching a girl three times, twice when she was between 11 and 12, and a third time when she was 13. He has pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
Father Edward Evans appeared in the Magistrates Court of the Australian Capital Territory for the first time on 7 June 2013, when the charges were officially filed. The court heard that he had surrendered his passports to police. He was released on bail pending his subsequent court proceedings. Meanwhile, the police investigation was continuing, with the possibility of additional charges being laid.
The case came up for mention in the same court on 3 October 2013. The prosecution sought to have the matter committed for trial in the ACT Supreme Court, arguing that the additional charges, when laid, would require the matter go before a judge, rather than a magistrate.
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