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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Two former Sydney-based
members of St John of God should not be extradited to New Zealand to face
serious child sex abuse charges because they would not get a fair trial,
their barrister told a court yesterday. The Catholic Church has
fought for more than a year to stop Raymond John Garchow, 57, and Rodger
Maloney, 69, being sent to New Zealand to face charges in relation to alleged
systemic abuse of boys by several members of the religious order at a
Christchurch school for orphans and intellectually disabled children,
Marylands, between 1955 and 1980. In ordering the men's
extradition in February, Magistrate Hugh Dillon likened the New Zealand case
to a "war crimes' proceeding", saying the doubt lay not in proving
the abuse had happened at the Marylands school, but who was involved and to
what extent. Maloney, a former
brother at the school, and Garchow, a former priest, had argued that they
were too old and sick to be surrendered. Maloney faces 28
charges, including sodomy, of allegedly assaulting 12 boys as young as eight
between 1971 and 1977 at Marylands. Garchow faces four
charges of an indecent act on two pupils, aged between eight and 11, between
1971 and 1980. Yesterday, the men's
defence barrister, Paul Byrne, SC, said the prospects of his clients
obtaining a fair trial were diminished because New Zealand, unlike Australia,
allows for joint trials. "A number of different complainants intend to
give evidence [so] there will be joint trials of multiple allegations of
sexual assault," he said. The hearing in the
Federal Court in Sydney continues. |
