Priest was a killer, says victim

So much for the Church
By Gary Hughes
May 26, 2006

Victim's link ... Sandringham's Sacred Heart Church / File picture THE Catholic Church has accepted as substantially true allegations that a Melbourne priest took part in satanic rituals in which a number of people were murdered.

The Melbourne Archdiocese paid $33,000 to the man who made the allegations as compensation for the repeated sexual and physical abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of the priest.
According to documents obtained by NEWS.com.au, the Archdiocese's independent sexual abuse investigator, barrister Peter O'Callaghan, QC, described the details of the ritualised murders and sexual abuse provided by the victim as "extraordinary".

"...but I have no reason or justification for doubting his credibility," Mr O'Callaghan said in a letter to the victim's lawyers in October, 2000.

Contrite: George Pell's apology to the victim

Earlier, in a formal interview with the victim, Mr O'Callaghan said he was satisfied the man was telling the truth.

"I see no reason why I shouldn't accept what you say," he said, according to the transcript of the meeting. "Amazing as it is, I accept it."
The Melbourne Archdiocese's Vicar General, Monsignor Les Tomlinson, told NEWS.com.au that the independent investigator advised Victoria Police about the allegations when he first learned of them in 1999.

He was told the victim had already notified police he had been sexually abused "and was a witness to murder".

"The police advised that inquiries had been made with the homicide squad and their missing persons records and intelligence was unable to confirm the allegations and that there was no current investigation into the matter," Monsignor Tomlinson said.

A Victoria Police spokesman said the force was checking its records for details on the notifications it received before deciding whether it could comment on the case.

In a sworn statement given to the Archdiocese in November 1999, the victim said he was first abused as an 11-year-old by the priest in Melbourne in the early 1960s, while serving as an altar boy at the Sacred Heart Church in Sandringham and attending a Catholic school.

The abuse continued for three years and included being repeatedly sexually and physically abused during what appeared to be satanic rituals by the priest and others. He said the priest, who has since died, owned at least one firearm.

In his statement the 56-year-old victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave details of at least three deaths - a young woman, a young man and a young child - that occurred during the rituals over a number of years.

Two victims had their throats cuts and a third was killed with an axe. The bodies were mutilated and partly dismembered after the killings. In his statement, the victim says the victims appeared to have been drugged before being killed.

"I have some gruesome memories of killings," the victim said. "I still feel totally overwhelmed and blown away when I recall these incidents. All these memories are extremely traumatic."

Animals, including cats, were also killed during the rituals.

"I remember being told loudly and forcibly that God is evil and Satan is good and Satan is more powerful. On another occasion I was told that good is evil and evil is good and that Satan is all powerful and has control over the earth, and that I am evil and that is good," the victim said in his statement.

Some of the rituals, the victim said, took place in an old house owned by the Catholic Church in Sandringham on the site where the new Sacred Heart Church now stands.

Monsignor Tomlinson said he was not aware of any similar allegations having been made to the Melbourne Archdiocese.

The independent compensation panel made a $33,000 ex gratia payment to the victim in March 2001 after his claims had been investigated by Mr O'Callaghan. The Archdiocese is still paying for psychological counselling for the man, who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as suffering from complex post traumatic stress disorder "as a result of experiencing multiple traumatic events" in childhood.

In accepting the compensation payout, the victim had to agree not to take further legal action against the Archdiocese.

The victim said he had decided to speak out following publicity surrounding the recent trial in the United States of Catholic priest Gerald Robinson, who was found guilty of the ritualised murder of a nun.


More details in Gary Hughes's Gotcha crime and corruption blog.

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