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The Press
February 12, 2003
Sensitive records stolen from safe
by Yvonne Martin
Sensitive
documents regarding a woman complaining about sexual harassment against
Catholic priest Jim Consedine have been stolen from
his Presbytery.
According to church lawyers, the Presbytery was burgled and all his documents
relating to the complaint by
Father Consedine stood down as Lyttelton
parish priest last October amid allegations of sexual misconduct from four
women, including Ms Quilter.
He accepted he needed counselling and was sent to a programme in
Shirley mother Ms Quilter was miffed that the Church was missing some documents
tracking her complaint over the years.
She is preparing legal action against the Church and, through lawyers, asked
for full disclosure of its records regarding her complaint.
Cavell Leitch Pringle and
Boyle, lawyers for Catholic Bishop of Christchurch John Cunneen,
were able to supply some documents as requested. But they said that Father Consedine's documents regarding Ms Quilter were stolen in
the burglary and there were no other existing records.
"It was news to me," said Ms Quilter.
"I would have presumed that the documents would have been kept somewhere
safe where they couldn't have been burgled.
"Canon law requires sensitive documents to be kept in secure
archives."
Catholic Communications director Lyndsay Freer did
not know when the burglary took place and had been unable to find out.
"Maybe the reason is that you don't know something has been burgled or
something is missing until you go looking for it," she said.
"I was told we just don't know when it happened." Ms Freer did not
know if the burglary had been reported to the police.
Lyttelton police could not confirm if the burglary
had been reported, without being supplied more specific details.
Ms Quilter met Father Consedine as a chaplain at
Christchurch Women's prison when she was an inmate in 1987. She took up his
offer of accommodation on her release the next year.
Ms Quilter claims he started acting over-familiarly -- making lewd suggestions
and touching her bottom while hugging.
She sent a complaint of sexual harassment to Bishop Cunneen
in 1997.
Last October, during a three-hour mediation, Father Consedine apologised "for any hurt he may have
inflicted", which she accepted.
However, the Bishop's lawyers have said Father Consedine's
apology was not an acceptance or acknowledgement of any wrongdoing.
Father Consedine's stepping down from his parish had
nothing to do with Ms Quilter, they said.