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The Press
January 13, 2004
Man guilty of false claim against priests
by John Henzell
A Christchurch man who lied about being repeatedly
molested by paedophile priests at a St John of God school has been told he
had made life even more difficult for genuine victims.
John Kevin Fenn, 39, a sickness beneficiary with intellectual disabilities,
claimed that he had been repeatedly molested during eight years at the
Halswell school in the 1970s.
But when detectives uncovered inconsistencies in his story, Fenn admitted he
had not been molested and had made up the abuse claim in a bid to get compensation
from the order.
Fenn pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to a charge of making
a false statement to police.
He was the second man to admit inventing abuse claims against the order.
Justin Todd Richardson, 35, was jailed for 12 months late last year for
making false claims which saw him being paid out more than $100,000 by the
order.
In the Christchurch District Court yesterday, Judge Stephen Erber told Fenn
that he was lucky he was not facing the more serious charge of false pretences.
"This unhappy prosecution arises out of the recent discovery of sexual
abuse that allegedly occurred at a local hospitaller order of St John," the judge
said.
"A number of people have complained about sexual abuse at the hands of
priests or brothers working at this facility and you, with another person,
got it into your heads that if you complained, you'd get some money.
"Generally speaking, there is a degree of scepticism about the claims of
sexual abuse and that impacts very badly on those who had made claims. It
makes it much harder for them to reconcile themselves with the
offending."
Erber said such behaviour would normally warrant a jail term but he accepted
defence counsel Craig Fletcher's submission that Fenn's intellectual
disabilities should allow him to remain in the community.
"You have suffered a brain injury in the past, leaving you with limited
intellectual capacity, and there has been domestic disorder for which you are
not to blame," the judge said. Fenn also had liquor and health problems,
he said.
Fenn was sentenced to 200 hours community work.
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