Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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The Catholic Church
will challenge the extradition of a former priest and a brother to New
Zealand in a sex abuse case that a magistrate has likened to "war crimes
proceedings". The magistrate, Hugh
Dillon, used this analogy yesterday, saying the doubt lay not in proving the
abuse, but who was involved and to what extent. He ordered that two
former Sydney St John of God members, Raymond John Garchow, 57, a former
priest, and Rodger Maloney, 69, a former brother, be extradited to New
Zealand to face child sex charges. William John Lebler,
83, a retired brother, who faced 32 charges, including buggery and sodomy on
boys aged eight to 13, was released because of his age and ill health. The charges relate to
alleged assaults by members of the order between 1955 and 1980 at Marylands,
a former Christchurch school for orphans and intellectually disabled
children. The church, which had
fought extradition of the three Sydney men vigorously, yesterday lodged an
application in the Federal Court for a review. Maloney faces 28
charges, including sodomy and committing an indecent act, for allegedly
assaulting 12 boys as young as eight between 1971 and 1977. He is also
accused of abusing a boy with another brother for three years. Garchow faces four
charges of an indecent act on two pupils, aged between eight and 11, from
1971 to 1980. Both men, in custody
pending a bail application today, were suspended from their order when
charged in December 2003, but their expenses are being paid by the church. Mr Dillon said:
"The (men) are accused of terrible abuse of very vulnerable children
committed to their care. The alleged breaches of trust... are almost as bad
as could be imagined." During the nine-day
extradition hearing the men's defence team said some people had been
prosecuted for fraudulent claims after a hotline was published. It also said
the allegations arose soon after publicity of the order's
multi-million-dollar compensation payout to Australian victims. But Mr Dillon said:
"Unless this is one of the biggest cases of mass hysteria or conspiracy
ever to surface in the Antipodes, it is reasonable to assume that this volume
of complaints could not have been generated without cause." The New Zealand High
Court was awaiting the outcome before setting a trial date for two other
brothers formerly at Marylands. |