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The Press
July 3, 2003
Complainant admits lie
by David Clarkson
A key complainant in the St John of God sex scandal has told the police he
lied about being abused by religious brothers at a Catholic residential
school.
In a new twist, Justin Todd Richardson -- who appears to have spent a $95,000
payout he received from the order -- has been charged with laying a false
complaint.
The 34-year-old foundry worker appeared in court yesterday on charges of
making a false complaint of sodomy and indecent assault in a written
statement to police. Richardson
was charged after admitting to police that he fabricated his story. He is one
of 18 former boys from Marylands
School in Halswell who
have made sexual allegations against Bernard Kevin McGrath, a former brother
facing 32 sex charges.
Richardson has also been charged with obtaining
a $95,000 "pastoral gesture" from St John of God by a false
pretence -- alleging he had been sexually abused by brothers while living at Marylands.
Police have charged McGrath, 56, with committing sexual offences against boys
between 1968 and 1984, the year Marylands
closed.
Seven other former Marylands brothers, now
living in Australia,
are also under police investigation. The order has paid $4 million to 56
former Marylands
boys, and the same amount to 24 Victorian men who alleged abuse by brothers
while in residential care there.
Christchurch detectives tried to confirm Richardson's story while making inquiries in Australia,
but were unable to substantiate his claims.
They spoke to Richardson
yesterday. He admitted lying about being abused at Marylands, to get money from St John of
God.
"Everything he had said was untrue," said Detective Sergeant Earle
Borrell, who heads the Marylands
inquiry. "He told me that the worst thing was that he got homesick
occasionally, otherwise it was OK.
"It makes it very difficult for the other genuine victims."
Richardson
entered no pleas when he appeared before Judge Graeme Noble in the
Christchurch District Court and was remanded for one week.
Gobsmacked Brother Peter Burke, the Australasian head of St John of God, said
he was "shocked and angry" by Richardson's
actions "and that's an understatement".
"To hear that Justin lied is a shock," he said.
The order is totting up how much money was paid to Richardson, but Brother Burke estimates it
far exceeds $100,000. "From the day that I met him I have been paying
for counselling, for medical bills, for pharmacy bills. I have been paying a
tremendous amount of money out to him to help him get on with his life
because I believed his story."
Brother Burke said he did not doubt the authenticity of other complainants.
"I have no doubt at all, unless something else like this comes up."
The order is seeking money back from Richardson
through the police but the chances of repayment could be slim.
Police prosecutor Vanessa Sugrue told the court police would allege that
$85,000 of the money had been spent since it was paid six weeks ago. Police
were trying to recover the remaining $10,000.
But Judge Noble said he would not make an order, and would leave recovery of
the money "to the persuasiveness of the officer in charge".
Richardson told
The Press in March that the money would make a difference in his life. He
would spend it on a house, his children, and a "lion safari in Africa".
Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust manager Ken Clearwater said Richardson started
turning up to support meetings in a four-wheel- drive vehicle and flash
clothes.
To A3 From A1
Mr Clearwater said Richardson told him in a
phone call last week that he had sold the wagon and was moving to Melbourne.
Richardson had
been his only client to question whether the other men's stories were
genuine.
Mr Clearwater was feeling duped yesterday. "I was there with him all the
way. Most of the other guys are going to be devastated."
Duty solicitor Alex Conte said that Richardson
agreed to the bail conditions sought by the police. He will have to report
once a week to the Christchurch Central Police Station while he is on remand,
and he must surrender his passport.
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