Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Bernard Kevin McGrath's
five-year jail term for sexually abusing boys at "Die, you ...
priest," said one man. "What a waste of time," said another as
McGrath was led away to the cells. There was a more
measured response on the steps of the courthouse. A man who had been at The manager of the Male
Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, Ken Clearwater, said he was in shock. "Five years is a
joke. For what that man's done, it's an insult to the victims. I know there
will be a lot of men hurting out there at the moment. I hope they have
supports in place to help them get through this." In setting the
sentence, Justice Lester Chisholm had to take into account two earlier prison
terms - three years in But he told the
58-year-old Catholic brother that he was sceptical of his claims of remorse
and noted that McGrath had received a two-year "discount" on his
1993 sentence for his full and frank admissions of guilt. With the 21 guilty
verdicts in a four-week trial that ended in McGrath was being
sentenced on 13 charges of indecent assault, eight charges of inducing an
indecent act, and one charge of doing an indecent act. The offending related
to nine victims at Some of the convictions
were for representative charges that indicated the offending continued over a
period. In one case this covered his whole three years and 10 months at the
school. "You were there to
be their protector. In truth you were their abuser," said Justice
Chisholm. "They had nowhere
to turn, no one to go to. It is no wonder they reacted in such a distressing
way when they gave evidence." Since the offending,
McGrath has attended a sex offenders' course in the "I don't think you
should ever be placed, or allow yourself to be placed, in the situation where
you are with young people," said Justice Chisholm. Crown prosecutor Kerryn
Beaton said McGrath's sexual abuse had been marked by violence, threats and
sometimes cruelty. Defence lawyer Raoul
Neave said the regime at the school at the time had been for severe physical
punishment to be meted out to maintain discipline, but he pointed out the
jury had accepted that there had been exaggeration of some of the claims. The jury had found
McGrath not guilty on 22 charges, and 10 more were withdrawn or ruled out by
the judge during the trial. Mr Neave said McGrath's
prison term would probably not be able to be served in McGrath took ill twice
during the trial. He appeared frail yesterday and sat with his head bowed in
the dock while legal argument about his sentence took place. He stood when
Justice Chisholm handed down the sentence. |