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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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Waikato Times
October 19, 2002

Priest steps down for sexual misconduct
NZPA

High-profile Catholic priest and justice campaigner Jim Consedine has stood down as Lyttelton parish priest amid allegations of sexual misconduct against women.

The former prison chaplain, champion of the underdog and advocate of restorative justice, has left his parish of 17 years to undergo therapy.

Fr Consedine will attend a programme in Sydney which specialises in treating clergy for violation of professional boundaries, sexual disorders and abuse.

Bishop of Christchurch John Cunneen is sending Fr Consedine for treatment after receiving complaints from four women of inappropriate sexual behaviour dating as far back as the early 1970s.

Last week during a mediation, Fr Consedine apologised to one complainant, a suburban Shirley mother who claims he touched her inappropriately, including fondling her bottom, last November.

Bishop Cunneen told St Joseph's parishioners in a statement last weekend that he had discussed "certain historical allegations" with Fr Consedine, who accepted he needed counselling.

In a statement, the Consedine family said it supported the open process the Church had set up for dealing with allegations.

Three women complained to the bishop in August about alleged misconduct when Fr Consedine was involved with the Young Christian Workers movement in the 1970s.

One complainant was a 19-year-old youth leader in 1973 when, she alleged, Fr Consedine kissed her after hearing her confession.

The woman, now 48, said the alleged misconduct continued after she moved into a home with other youth leaders.

Another woman claims Fr Consedine indecently touched her in 1978, when she was traumatised after leaving her husband, who had assaulted her.

"I simply felt assaulted all over again and was in no state to confront his behaviour."

The three women opted not to go to a formal mediation with him.

In mediation last week for the fourth complainant, the Shirley mother claimed that Fr Consedine made sexual comments to her and her daughter, and groped the mother's backside when hugging.

Fr Consedine apologised to the mother "for any hurt he may have inflicted", which she accepted.

A former Christchurch Women's Prison inmate, she took up the offer of a bed when she left prison in 1988. But she claims Fr Consedine soon began acting over-familiarly -- making lewd suggestions, with odd touching, rubbing and hugging.