|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
The High Court has
lifted name suppression for a Catholic clergyman facing allegations of sexual
abuse. Father Raymond Garchow,
59, had already been named and yesterday Justice Lester Chisholm in
Christchurch ruled that the order suppressing the name of Brother Roger
Moloney, 71 , could be lifted. Both men face
allegations of sexually abusing boys as young as 8 between 1966 and 1979 at
the Marylands Special School in Christchurch. Garchow faces four charges, and
Moloney 28. Justice Chisholm said
recent publicity concerning the extradition proceedings relating to the men
had led him to clarify the suppression orders. On Friday Australian
Justice Rodney Madgwick ruled it would be "unjust or oppressive" to
send the two members of the St John of God Order back to New Zealand. The differences in the
New Zealand and Australian legal systems, and the length of time since the
alleged crimes, would make it difficult for the men to receive a fair trial. Prime Minister Helen
Clark said yesterday that she "stood by the integrity of the New Zealand
judicial system". But NZ Council for
Civil Liberties president Tony Ellis urged NZ judges to adopt the Australian
practice of always warning juries the defence might be prejudiced in
historical sex abuse cases by an inability to bring witnesses and evidence
that might have been available had the case been heard earlier. Justice Madgwick
granted the men bail because of their health problems. "It is clear that
they are both men in poor health and incarceration will aggravate their
problems of mental health," he said. Justice Chisholm said
that because of the publication of the names of the men in the context of the
extradition proceedings in Australia, continued suppression no longer served
any useful purpose. But allegations which
emerged during the trial of a colleague at the school would remain
suppressed. Brother Bernard McGrath
was found guilty on 21 sex abuse charges by a jury in the High Court at
Christchurch last month. McGrath, who had faced
44 charges dating back to his time as a teacher at Marylands in the 1970s,
was found not guilty on 23 charges. |
