Frustrated Tweet-X …

When the hidden-denied reasons behind your childhood of multifaceted #childsexualabuse becomes known more clearly, what’s holding you back from responding alike “the reason I’ve grown so f-ed up, is due to your f-ing parent-church-school-club you took me through”?! #nrs💣

Refund of Fees

Amongst the growing amount of public acknowledgment, that ‘those foreign cases of #childabuse’ are in fact happening within their own neighbourhood, at their own school, or ‘worst still’ to their own children – it’s understandable that some parent’s concerns won’t be for that safety of their own victimised child, but for themselves to be able to reclaim “wasted monies”. As we now live in a consumerist society, occasionally we hear of broken families, where their sole-concern is in filling their own hip pockets with some of that 💰, as fractures often occur in these horse-or-cart structures. (Experienced Satire)

As examples of some Private/Elite schools in Brisbane who’ve offered out some damages-compensation-(not hush money), here are some examples + links:

Header of CARC | Schools https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/schools

As these were just a handful of examples of how a church-founded country of Australia, can be dealing with immersed control of a tax-free body, whilst still battling for equal rights of colonial-Indigenous after-effects – there are many more layers to unpack!

Marist Brothers lose bid to use paedophile’s death as shield against child abuse claims

This article is more than 3 months old

Judge finds Australian Catholic order should not benefit from its ‘own inaction’ in not speaking to known abuser before he died

Christopher Knaus

@knauscFri 5 May 2023 12.56 AEST

The Marist Brothers argued that the death of paedophile Brother Francis ‘Romuald’ Cable rendered it unable to fairly defend itself from a civil claim by a survivor. Photograph: Getty Images

A Catholic order has lost its latest attempt to use the death of a known paedophile clergy member to shield itself from allegations of child sexual abuse after a judge found that allowing such a course would “bring the administration of justice into disrepute”.

In recent months, the Guardian has revealed how the Catholic church, in particular its Marist Brothers and Christian Brothers orders, is increasingly using the deaths of clergy members to argue for permanent stays of cases brought by abuse survivors in the civil courts.

The church, which for decades covered up sexual abuse and thwarted justice for victims and survivors, has been emboldened by a win in New South Wales’s highest court last year, which found a perpetrator’s death made a fair trial impossible.

In a more recent case, the Marist Brothers argued that the death of notorious paedophile Brother Francis “Romuald” Cable rendered it unable to fairly defend itself from a civil claim by a survivor known by the pseudonym of Mark Peters, because it can no longer call Cable as a witness.

Audrey Nash
Its gutless clergy abuse survivors and their families outraged by legal stays that thwart cases https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/27/its-gutless-clergy-abuse-survivors-and-their-families-outraged-by-legal-stays-that-thwart-cases

The Marist Brothers made that argument despite the fact that Cable was alive for 22 months after Peters first notified it of his claim. After learning of Peters’s claim in October 2020, it did nothing to seek a response from Cable before he died in September 2022. Cable was 88 years old and behind bars when the Marist Brothers learned of the impending case.

On Friday, the NSW supreme court rejected the church’s attempts to use Cable’s death to justify a permanent stay.

“The defendant should not, in my view, have the benefit of its own inaction,” justice Nicholas Chen found.

“The defendant’s alleged inability to meaningfully deal with the claim is, I find, a product of its own unreasonable failure to attempt to make contact with Cable, and to take steps to secure his evidence.

“In my view, to accept otherwise would, adopting what was said by [former chief justice Thomas Bathurst], ‘itself bring the administration of justice into disrepute’.”

Court documents allege the Marist Brothers have known of abuse complaints against Cable since 1967, but concealed his crimes from police and other authorities for decades and instead shuffled him between its schools, where he continued to abuse children.

The Marist Brothers argued to the court that it didn’t seek a response from Cable to Peters’s allegations while he was alive because he had earlier rebuffed them in 2015 and said he did not want to have any more contact with the order’s leadership team.

But the court rejected that submission for five separate reasons. It found that 2015 was a particularly sensitive time for Cable, given he had just been convicted for child abuse and was awaiting sentence, meaning he may have been more likely to want to talk five years later, if the Marist Brothers had attempted to contact him again.

Our Australian afternoon update email breaks down the key national and international stories of the day and why they matter

The court also found that Cable may have been willing to talk to a lawyer or investigator, rather than a member of Marist’s leadership team.

Cable had also subsequently pleaded guilty to a raft of other child abuse charges in the period after the Marist Brothers approached him in 2015. He knew he would likely be in jail until he died, the court found. That “suggests that Cable, if contacted, may well have agreed to discuss what happened to the plaintiff”.

“At an absolute minimum, I consider that the defendant should have attempted – on an ongoing basis – contact with Cable following the letter notifying the defendant of the plaintiff’s intent to commence proceedings in 2020, and those steps should have been intensified once proceedings had been commenced,” Chen ruled.

Hands holding rosary beads
Australian Catholic Order accused of waiting for paedophile to die and using death to shield it from abuse claims https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/11/australian-catholic-order-accused-of-waiting-for-paedophile-to-die-and-using-death-to-shield-it-from-abuse-claims

“As it happens, nothing was done by the defendant to ascertain whether Cable would speak to them, their lawyers or investigators about the plaintiff’s claim.

“I do not accept that the defendant can simply stand back and do nothing, which is what has occurred here.”

It is unclear whether the Marist Brothers will attempt to appeal the ruling. But the win allows Peters to proceed with his case and either agree to a settlement or take it to trial.


RETRIEVED https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/05/marist-brothers-lose-bid-to-use-paedophiles-death-as-shield-against-child-abuse-claims?CMP=share_btn_link

Brisbane Boys’ College students calls on peers to ‘stop being boys, be human’ in wake of national sexual assault conversation

ABC Radio Brisbane, By Antonia O’Flaherty

Posted Fri 19 Mar 2021 at 12:33pmFriday 19 Mar 2021 at 12:33pm, updated Fri 19 Mar 2021 at 11:30pmFriday 19 Mar 2021 at 11:30pm

An image of a Brisbane Boys' College student Mason Black with his mother with leafy background.
Brisbane Boys’ College Captain Mason Black with his mother Michelle Monsur.(Supplied: Brisbane Boys’ College)

The school captain of one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has called on his peers to put an end to rape culture and be proactive in stopping the sexual assault and harassment of women.

Key points:

  • Brisbane Boys’ College captain Mason Black made a powerful speech to his peers
  • The Queensland government has ordered a review of how sexual consent is taught in both independent and state schools
  • Queensland public and private schools were named in anonymous testimonies about sexual assault in an online viral petition

Brisbane Boys College (BBC) captain Mason Black made the resounding speech in front of peers on Thursday, calling on them to “accept this injustice against women and stand up for what is right”.

It follows thousands of Australian students anonymously detailing harrowing accounts of rape and sexual assault on a viral petition calling for sexual consent to be taught earlier in schools.

The petition was launched by former Kamabala student Chanel Contos.

BBC was among the Queensland public and private schools identified on the petition in testimonies from young women.

A video of Mr Black’s speech calling for a change in culture at the college and broader society, has attracted about 260,000 views on Instagram and tens of thousands on Facebook. 

A woman silhouetted against a white wall sits with her head in her hands.

In his speech, Mr Black revealed his mother had been sexually abused at just 10-years of age. 

“Are you brave enough to ask your mum about her experiences? What about your sisters? Friends?” he said.

“I wish I grew up in an Australia where the narrative that one in three women will be physically or sexually abused at some point in their life wasn’t true, but it is.”

It comes as the Queensland government undertakes a review of sexual consent education in both public and independent schools across the state.

‘It’s on all of us’

Teaching children about consent

Hear Natalie Hamam’s interview with Life Matters’ Amanda Smith

Read more

Mr Black also made reference to NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller’s idea for an app to record sexual consent.

“What you really need is a basic acceptance and respect, and that, boys, is on all of us,” he said. 

“Boys, if a woman wants to say ‘no’, and she says ‘no’, we have to listen, understand and accept this.”

Mr Black said the deeply-ingrained rape culture within society needed to be addressed.

“As good as this message is coming from public speakers or staff, it’s up to us, the boys.

“They need to accept this injustice against women and stand up for what is right.”

‘You are part of the problem’

He said it made him feel “sick” and “embarrassed” that the school had been named in the testimonies.

Sexual assault support services:

“I feel so ashamed that this issue is a part of our history and our culture.

“I feel ashamed that the action of some reflects poorly on us all, but realistically it isn’t just those who are mentioned in the media.

“If you have ever objectified a woman based on her looks, talked about females in a misogynistic way, or taken advantage without consent, you are part of the problem.

“Seemingly harmless comments can have such devastating effects.”

He called on his peers to “stop being boys” and “be human”.

“Every person in this room must not just be an advocate for equality, but in our every action and deed we have to be proactive in stopping the abuse.”

‘Keep your mates accountable’

Find more local news

The student called on his peers to put an end to slurs and derogatory comments, to stand up to “any man” if they see it happening, and keep their mates accountable.

“Each and every one of us have an obligation to each other to not follow the ways of the past, and to take our future on a new path,” he said.

The speech was lauded on social media for inspiring a change in culture but drew some criticism that the same attitudes were not held among his peers.

One 16-year-old Brisbane schoolgirl, Anya, voiced her frustration that the speech had received so much praise “over the voices of millions of women around the world, some of whom in recent weeks have had the courage to be vulnerable when sharing their past experiences with sexual assault”.

“It’s been widely recognised a massive part of the problem is the way men are praised for doing the bare minimum yet women are compelled to overcompensate for their lack to “keep them safe”, her post on Instagram said. 


RETRIEVED https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-19/brisbane-boys-college-issues-plea-to-peers-to-end-rape-culture/13261790

Posted 19 Mar 202119 Mar 2021, updated 19 Mar 2021

Rape culture in Australian schools: New Chanel Contos website exposes hundreds of testimonies from sexual assault victims


An explosive new website names hundreds of Australian schools where students say there’s a disturbing problem.

Ben Graham@bengrahamjourno

4 min read

March 5, 2021 – 9:25AM

/

Duration 1:09AirplayFullscreen

Chanel Contos speaks with TODAY after her petition to change consent education in schools went viral.

WARNING: Distressing

Thousands of students from across every part of Australia have spoken out about a chilling culture of normalised rape and sexual assault – as pressure grows for systemic change.

Since being overwhelmed by the response to her petition – calling for earlier and more holistic sexual education lessons – Sydneysider Chanel Contos has received more than 4000 testimonies from students in South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and NSW.

Overnight, she launched a website where the disturbing accounts are beginning to be made public for the first time. 

There are already more than 1500 testimonies on the website – and many of them bear eerie similarities to the vile stories that emerged from Sydney schoolsshortly after the petition first went live.

In many of the freshly-uploaded accounts, students say they were raped while unconscious at parties or woke up to being touched by someone inappropriately.

MELBOURNE SCHOOLS MENTIONED

Many of the new testimonies come from Melbourne schools, where students say there is a similar culture to the chauvinistic club-like mentality reported in some Sydney all-boys schools in the initial testimonies.

One former student at Carey Grammar School said she was 16 and at a party when she smoked her first joint and passed out on a bed.

“I thought I’d be safe as the host went to my school,” she said, recounting the incident in 2012. “Instead he came in and got into bed with me.”

She said the boy then started digitally penetrating her, and wouldn’t stop even though she repeatedly asked him to.

She said a friend of the boy entered the room and “joined in” – before spreading rumours around the school about the victim’s body. 

RELATED: Dark secret at some of Sydney’s most elite schools

The website which shows hundreds of new testimonies was launched overnight.
The website which shows hundreds of new testimonies was launched overnight.

RELATED:Single-sex vs co-ed: Theory behind worrying sexual assault trend

“When I told my ex boyfriend a few years later he told me I asked for it and shouldn’t have laid down,” she said. “There’s so much wrong to this story.”

In another testimony, a former Firbank Grammar School student said she and her mates were invited to a “massive party of about 500 people” when she was in year 9. 

“It was one of my first experiences drinking a lot and I was vomiting at the back of the party and going in and out of consciousness,” she said. “I don’t remember anything but the next day I found an Instagram picture of me passed out next to my vomit with a guy I don’t know with his hands up my dress.”

She said the St Kevin’s College student’s friends took pictures and posted them online.

“I reported the photo every day for a long time before it was removed and it still terrifies me that lots of people I don’t know have that photo,” she said. “I also don’t know what else was done to me that night because I don’t remember.”

‘RAPE CULTURE’ BEING EXPOSED

The disturbing accounts are just some of hundreds that have been uploaded overnight, and Ms Contos told news.com.au that thousands more will be uploaded soon.

“I’m really excited that this is reaching different states because once these stories start coming out in other parts of the country, I think we will see the same response we’ve seen in NSW,” she said. 

“The more people that come forward, the more it will help the cause and it will expose the rape culture in our society.”

RELATED:Chilling story shows dark problem with porn

Former Kambala student Chanel Contos started an anonymous online petition to improve sex and consent education in schools across Australia. Picture: Supplied
Former Kambala student Chanel Contos started an anonymous online petition to improve sex and consent education in schools across Australia. Picture: Supplied

RELATED:Vile sex assault claims rock elite schools in Victoria and Queensland

Private Sydney schools in particular were mentioned time and time again in the initial testimonies, and Ms Contos said she was already seeing positive signs that schools and MPs in the city were taking the petition seriously.

She is meeting with several headmasters in the schools mentioned tomorrow as well as Liberal MP for Wentworth Dave Sharma – who has thrown his support behind the campaign.

“As the response to this petition makes clear, we’ve all got to do better in educating our children, at home and in our schools,” Mr Sharma said.

PARENTS PULL STUDENTS OUT OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS

As the pressure grows for systemic change, it’s clear some parents aren’t willing to wait.

Some of those who sent their boys to Sydney private schools mentioned in the petition have spoken out, and some have reportedly sent their children to other schools. 

One father of a year 9 student at Kings School in Parramatta told the Sun-Heraldelite schools cultivated a culture of entitlement and privilege, which he said leads to a lack of “sensitivity” towards others. 

“They teach these kids they’re the best, they’re the chosen ones, they’re going to run Australia, they’re going to conquer the world,” he said. 

The parent said he chose the private school for his son to give him a better chance, but worried he and his wife would struggle to teach the child to be empathetic towards others.

News.com.au has contacted the school for comment.

Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma is meeting with Ms Contos tomorrow. Picture: John Appleyard
Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma is meeting with Ms Contos tomorrow. Picture: John Appleyard

MELBOURNE SCHOOLS RESPOND

Meanwhile, Melbourne schools mentioned in the new testimonies have expressed their concern.

The body representing some of Melbourne’s most prestigious Catholic schools – including St Kevin’s College, Parade College, St Mary’s College, St Joseph’s College and St Bernard’s College – said the petition had pushed them to take action and signalled they would work with parents to address the issue.

“The powerful testimonies provided by the many young women in the online petition are disturbing and are an indictment on societal decency,” said Edmund Rice Education Australia executive director Dr Craig Wattam.

“All of us – schools, families, and the broader community – must carefully consider and revisit issues pertaining to sex education. 

“More specifically, sexual consent education is required for both young men and women and we need to be providing this education in early adolescence.”

News.com.au has also reached out to Carey Grammar School for comment.

To sign the petition, visit Ms Contos’ new website

RETRIEVED https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/rape-culture-in-australian-schools-new-chanel-contos-website-exposes-hundreds-of-testimonies-from-sexual-assault-victims/news-story/00a4789d286a0a5f0d30c78e87549e74

The Qld private schools named on rape culture website revealed


March 05, 20215:01 pm

Stephanie Bennett | The Courier-Mail


Queensland’s most prestigious boys’ schools have been rocked by graphic allegations of rape and sexual assault committed by current and former students, with private school girls publishing shocking claims online.

Allegations against Brisbane Grammar School, Brisbane Boys’ College, Toowoomba Grammar School, Nudgee College, St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, Anglican Church Grammar School and St Laurence’s College students are among the thousands of testimonies posted on a viral petition calling for earlier education on sexual consent.

Petition creator Sydney student Chanel Contos’ call for victims to share stories of sexual assaults perpetrated by all-boys’ school students in an effort to highlight “rape culture” has resulted in more than 4000 responses from across the county.

 Chanel Contos launched a petition and website which was flooded with allegations of rape and sexual assault by private school students. Picture: Instagram

Ms Contos said distressing stories from Queensland girls quickly flooded in after the petition was shared widely on social media.

One posted by a former All Hallows’ student alleges she was raped by a boy from the prestigious St Laurence’s School in Brisbane, while a second All Hallows’ student claims she was coerced into losing her virginity to a Churchie boy and woke up “covered in blood”.

 A number of former All Hallows’ students claim they were raped by boys from Brisbane private schools. Picture: Supplied

Another wrote there were “multiple occasions with various students from St Laurence’s and St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace – I learnt the hard way about consent.

“I was raped and left in the dark, bleeding between my legs as I was robbed of my virginity. “It was painful and I didn’t tell anyone because I was ashamed.”

A claim by a former Stuartholme student alleges she was raped at a party by a Terrace student.

“Everyone at that party including my ‘friends’ at the time let me get drunkenly led into that room and no one did anything to intervene,” the post states.

Another Stuartholme student wrote she was coerced into having sex by an older boy and “eventually gave in”.

A post claiming to be from a former St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School student alleges she was raped in Year 9 by a Year 10 Nudgee College student.

“Immediately after the assault I told a friend and she slut shamed me and told me I was ‘too drunk’ and asked ‘what did you expect’,” it read.

St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace College at Spring Hill. Picture: Supplied
St Laurence’s College in South Brisbane. Picture: Supplied

A fellow St Aidan’s student wrote she was “digitally raped” at a school dance by a Brisbane Boys’ College student while his friends laughed.

Ms Contos said while the majority of responses to her petition referenced private boys’ schools, she believed similar stories were happening “in every school in Australia”.

“But the issue is heightened in same sex schools because it’s not an adequate representation of reality,” she said.

“You often only see the opposite sex on the weekend, when the main goal is having a story to tell on Monday.”

Ms Contos said while she had been in touch with politicians from New South Wales and Victoria in regards to the disturbing nature of the allegations, no one from the Queensland government had yet attempted to contact her.

Headmasters and principals expressed their horror at the allegations, and said they were committed to enhancing programs focused on educating their students on consent and respectful sexual relationships.

Brisbane Grammar School headmaster Anthony Micallef
Churchie headmaster Dr Alan Campbell

Brisbane Grammar School headmaster Anthony Micallef yesterday wrote to parents he was “appalled” by the accounts.

“While every school has programs to educate students about respectful relationships, drugs and alcohol, and the issue of consent, every parent and educator fears that young people may still make terrible decisions that have lifelong consequences,” Mr Micallef said.

“The traumatic experiences the young women describe in the online petition, and the behaviours perpetrated by young men, suggest this issue is ongoing and must be addressed.”

Churchie headmaster Alan Campbell also issued a letter to parents, stating as a boys school they had a “special responsibility” to educate boys to grow to be good men who will respect women and men equally.

He said sexual consent was taught and discussed in Year 9 and Year 12.

Brisbane Boys’ College at Toowong. Picture: Facebook

Toowoomba Grammar Headmaster John Kinniburgh commended the girls for “standing up and speaking out.”

“No person, regardless of age or gender, should ever be subjected to unwanted sexual or peer group pressure,” he said.

“TGS has programs in place that teach students about respectful relationships, consent and the criminal nature of sexual harassment and assault.”

St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace principal Michael Carroll said the school’s sex education began in Year 5 and 6, with consent addressed directly with Years 10, 11 and 12.

“We have been developing a stronger focus on respectful relations over the past 12-18 months at Terrace and this has been a significant stimulus to create a narrower focus around age-appropriate discussions about sex education and in particular, consent in sex,” he said.


RETRIEVED https://apple.news/AYYXrnri3R7ufgWE3Me6ORQ

Elite Sydney teacher Cody Reynolds jailed for child abuse cache

A teacher at an elite school viewed “sadistic” videos for sexual gratification, including children forced into sexual acts under gunpoint.

Nathan Schmidt@Nate_R_Schmidty

May 11, 2023 – 3:29PM NCA NewsWire

WARNING: Distressing

A senior teacher at one of Sydney’s most prestigious schools used his work laptop to access a stash of “depraved” child abuse images.

Cody Michael Reynolds, 37, will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being sentenced at Downing Centre Court on Tuesday, more than a year after he was stood down from a prestigious role at Moriah College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where parents pay about $35,000 a year. 

Police arrested Reynolds following a raid of his inner city home in March 2022. Officers uncovered a cache of child abuse material on multiple devices and online storage service Megalcoud, including at least 1000 child abuse images and 50 videos.

Investigators uncovered a further 111 images and six videos on Reynolds’ iPhone in a folder hidden on the phone’s camera roll as well as nine images and two videos on his work-assigned laptop.

Cody Michael Reynolds, the former head of English at Moriah College, arrives for sentencing on child abuse material charges. Picture: Simon Bullard

Cody Michael Reynolds, the former head of English at Moriah College, arrives for sentencing on child abuse material charges. Picture: Simon Bullard

Judge Phillip Mahoney told the court the material was “depraved” and showed mostly pre-pubescent males and females aged between 9-16 masturbating or performing sex acts, including with adults.

“The material included sadistic material where children are engaged in sexual activity under gunpoint,” Justice Mahoney said. “In another, a four year old was forced to put his hand on the penis of an older boy.”

The court was told Reynolds used multiple aliases to share child abuse material with users through a concealed WhatsApp application, including an explicit conversation with a user called Xavier about “playing with young boys”.

“The offender transferred videos to a like-minded user encouraging their own gratification,” Justice Mahoney said.

“He deliberately used a sophisticated method, including end-to-end inscription, to minimise detection.”

Cody Reynolds formerly served as head of English at Moriah College.

Cody Reynolds formerly served as head of English at Moriah College.

Reynolds pleaded guilty late last year to using a carriage service to transmit, publish, or promote child abuse material and using a carriage service to possess or control child abuse material.

At the time of his arrest, Reynolds was head of English at Moriah College, a coeducational Modern Jewish Orthodox private school, but was stood down by the elite school within 24-hours of his arrest at his Surry Hills home.

During sentencing, the court was told how Reynold went from being a high-flying teacher presenting his academic studies in Australia and overseas to consuming child abuse material.

“Reynolds would avoid going home to his partner and would instead sit in the storeroom of his apartment building drinking and viewing the child abuse material,” Justice Mahoney told the court. 

“He used it to cope with negative emotions (…) rather than develop healthy coping mechanisms.”

Justice Mahoney said Reynolds had “done everything” to seek out rehabilitation after being charged,

Cody Reynolds used his work laptop to access a stash of ‘depraved’ child abuse images. Picture: Damian Shaw

Cody Reynolds used his work laptop to access a stash of ‘depraved’ child abuse images. Picture: Damian Shaw

The 37-year-old was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder at 21 and later with PTSD following his arrest.

Reynolds “acknowledged in hindsight” the emotional harm that the offending had caused to children depicted in the videos.

The court was also told Reynolds had not met the criteria for a pedophilic disorder and co-operated with police following his arrest.

He was joined in court by his family, who had relocated to Sydney to support him.

Reynolds was sentenced to a total prison term of two years and 10 months.

But Justice Mahoney ordered that he be eligible for release from November 2024.

After that time, he will be required to pay $1000 and continue with rehabilitation treatment.


RETRIEVED https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/elite-sydney-teacher-cody-reynolds-jailed-for-child-abuse-cache/news-story/ffbc5feb9d1e2934d1b9f1f6a2844276

Overlapping similarities

Something that becomes easier for some victims/survivors/oppressed/bad-eggs/outcasts to see is the hidden-truth, the dry wit, the ‘adult humour’, “things only grownups understand” that they innately become both aware of & exposed to during their youth. I wanted to post this immediately after recognising patterns in ‘She Said’. Many of the power+control methods exposed by this great work also reflect/mirror dynamics they continue throughout Institutions-Corporations-Society’s-Families & personalities.

While Harvey Weinstein’s ‘imprisonment’ has triggered off other moments, reminders give hope to other truth’s being exposed.

Promising Young Woman, 2021.

Many other ‘parallels’ appeared to me, which I gravitate to. It’s not about whether it’s popular to others, it’s whether it’s meaningful to me, another was Spotlight which brought up reminders I was exposed to on a church youth camp! How blessed were we?!

Spotlight, 2015.

Ongoing ‘generational’ differences?

Timed perfectly(?), an encounter with some graduates + a younger BBC student occurred on a train TWG-CEN: (eMail contents to BBC, OCA & QR)

/ / / Belatedly  & with “it’s a generational thing” regret as both an Old Boy, OCA-Bursary recipient & past BBC Teacher’s Aide 

#duckduckgo, retrieved 2022

volunteer, the following results from a QR TWG-CEN ~3:43pm:
– QR/TransLink Concession Card Recepients (4/5 seniors, 1 green)- uniformed BBC Students “represent the school & should give the greatest (public) impression” (QR, BBC & OCA)- similar BBC Admin messages have been successfully enacted, yet ‘younger learn from older’ isn’t practiced- passionate language was triggered, resulting from overall ‘untouchable/innocent’ response(?) (predominately seniors)- immediate conversation with QR staff reinforced these “students from private schools” conundrum.


Now would be a good time for BBC to seperate itself, from the herd-mentality. Otherwise, expecting ongoing feedback re: these matters.

Cardinal George Pell Civil Case Catholic Archdiocese

By Danny Morgan

Posted Thu 4 Aug 2022 at 4:30pmThursday 4 Aug 2022 at 4:30pm, updated Yesterday at 5:58am

A man wearing a black robe holds his fingers to his temple as he speaks.
The father of a former choirboy who died of a drug overdose in 2014 has launched a case against Cardinal George Pell.(AP: Gregorio Borgia)

The Catholic Church is using a controversial legal tactic in a bid to be excused from a civil damages claim lodged in the Victorian Supreme Court involving Cardinal George Pell.

Key points:

  • The man lodging the claim says he suffered nervous shock after learning of allegations his son was abused by Cardinal Pell
  • Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence and was acquitted by the High Court of criminal charges in 2020
  • The Archdiocese has asked to be excused from the civil case, claiming the father was not the primary victim of any alleged abuse

A man is suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and Cardinal Pell for damages, claiming he suffered nervous shock after learning of allegations Cardinal Pell sexually assaulted his son when he was a choirboy at St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne in 1996.

In 2018, Cardinal Pell was found guilty of the assault, but the High Court unanimously quashed the conviction in 2020.

The Cardinal has always maintained his innocence.

Church calls upon ‘Ellis defence’

In a preliminary hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday, the Archdiocese indicated it wanted to rely on what is known as the ‘Ellis defence’ to be excused from the case.

The Ellis defence emerged out of a 2007 NSW Court of Appeal judgement that prevented an abuse survivor suing the Church because it was not a legal entity.

Survivors have long complained about the Church using the Ellis defence, and in 2018 the Victorian Parliament passed legislation that required unincorporated associations such as the Church to nominate an entity that is capable of being sued.

However, lawyers for the Archdiocese argued that legislation did not apply in this case because the father of the choirboy was not the primary victim of the alleged abuse.

The facade of St Patrick's Cathedral reaches into a cloudy sky.
The civil damages claim relates to allegations of abuse at St Patrick’s Cathedral in 1996.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)

The father’s barrister, Julian Burnside QC, disagreed, arguing the 2018 legislation applied to both primary victims and their families.

“What our learned friends’ submission amounts to is this: If the victim of child abuse dies, then the family has no remedy, they have no-one they can sue,” Mr Burnside said.

“Now that’s plainly wrong in our submission.”

Justice Michael McDonald has reserved his decision on whether to excuse the Archdiocese.

If you or anyone you know needs help:

Archdiocese pledges to pay any potential damages

If the Archdiocese is excused, Cardinal Pell would remain a defendant.

In a letter to the court, solicitors for the Archdiocese indicated that, even if the Church avoided liability, it would still pay any damages should the judge find against Cardinal Pell.

“If the plaintiff is awarded damages against the second defendant [George Pell], the Archdiocese will ensure that the award is paid by indemnifying the second defendant in respect of the award,” the letter said.

The father of the choirboy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, launched his case last month.

His son died of a drug overdose in 2014 and the father only learned of the allegations against Cardinal Pell the following year.

The father is claiming general damages, special damages and seeking compensation for past loss of earning capacity as well as past and future medical expenses.

His solicitor, Lisa Flynn, said the High Court’s decision to quash Cardinal Pell’s conviction would not affect the civil proceedings.

“The High Court made some decisions in relation to the criminal prosecution against [George] Pell. Our case is a civil case against George Pell and the Catholic Archdiocese,” she said.

RETRIEVED

Morgan, Danny. (2022). Cardinal George Pell Civil Case Catholic Archdiocese. Retrieved https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-04/cardinal-george-pell-civil-case-catholic-archdiocese/101301514. ABC News, Australia.