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Accusations of Abuse in Institutions

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One News
December 8, 2003

Jail sentence for false abuse case

A man who defrauded the Catholic church with a false allegation of sexual abuse has been sentenced to jail for a year.

Justin Richardson received more than $100,000 compensation after claiming he had been abused at a Christchurch residential school in the 1980s.

Richardson made his claim when the Order of St John of God was embroiled in scandal and he was one of 56 former pupils accusing the order of abuse.

But Richardson's story about being abused by priests at the Marylands School was not true and the lie has seen him sentenced to imprisonment.

Ken Clearwater from the Sexual Abuse Survivors Trust said he worked with Richardson for over a year and had no doubts that he had been abused.

"The guys that are genuine are really struggling to come to terms at the moment with everything Justin's been responsible for," said Clearwater.

Richardson has only repaid a portion of the money and says he spent the rest on friends and family.

Defence lawyer Gerry Lascelles said Richardson was not motivated by greed.

"He was under a lot of pressure there and did it more to help others," Lascelles said.

His lawyer says he's a deeply disturbed person - someone who was abused as a child but not by the priests.

Richardson has been granted leave to apply for home detention.