Dominion Post
May 18 2004
Church knew of Woodcock conviction before appointment
The Catholic Church
was aware paedophile priest Alan Woodcock had a previous sexual assault
conviction before it made him a teacher at a Wellington boys' school.
When knowledge of his offending began to spread, the Church was advised to keep
it out of the public eye by a former chief district court judge, a former pupil
of the school.
Woodcock yesterday pleaded guilty to 21 charges relating to the abuse of 11
boys between 1978 and 1987 when he was teaching at
Thirteen other charges were withdrawn.
Woodcock was remanded in custody to appear in Wellington District Court for
sentence on June 25.
Woodcock was extradited from
Documents reveal the Church was aware before it appointed Woodcock to St
Patrick's that he had been previously convicted of sexually assaulting a
17-year-old youth in
Correspondence obtained by The Dominion Post shows the Church knew of the
incident even before he was convicted. Then Society of Mary head Provincial
Noel Delaney, wrote a letter to the court offering Church support for Woodcock.
He was moved out of
Court documents show that while at St Patrick's Woodcock made friends with
boys, offered cigarettes and enticed them to his bedroom, where he performed
indecent acts on them. One victim describing his sexual
appetite as "voracious" and "rampant".
After several students complained of abuse, the school advised Woodcock to get
a passport.
It also set up a list of rules he had to follow such as not having boys in his
bedroom with the door closed "unless the visit is of a confessional nature
or a similarly private matter". At the end of that year he was quietly
moved to Highden noviciate in Palmerston North.
When one of Woodcock's victim's, Terry Carter, went to the media in 1994 the
Church consulted Judge Peter Trapski.
In a 1994 Church document Judge Trapski is reported
to have advised the Church to place "confidential material" about
Woodcock into his employment file but within a separate envelope labelled
secret.
Media
Advice
Judge Trapski told the Church he believed it would be
restricted in responding to the media allegations by a 1979 suppression order
on Woodcock's conviction for sexual assault, the document said.
But he went on to say that he thought "something could be said.. . but to keep the pressure away
from it".
"And any reference would be in light of recent developments, eg. We have a very firm suspicion that there was a previous
incident. As a result certain actions were taken. . .
or. . . subsequent investigations indicate this may not have been the first. .
. ," the Church document said.
It goes on to state that Judge Trapski and another
trustee reduced the media statement "to something quite bland".
"Peter thought the newspapers will now keep quiet till there is actual
substance," it said.
In another document Judge Trapski urged a proactive
response to media inquiries.
He advised the Church to find Alan Woodcock. "The media will be able to
find him and it would be better for us to find him first," the document
said Judge Trapski advised.
Judge Trapski retired from the bench in 1989 and up
till 1993 was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal. In 1995 he was appointed Judge
Advocate General, the same year he received a Papal Knighthood from the
Several attempts by The Dominion Post yesterday to contact Judge Trapski were unsuccessful. His secretary said he was out of
contact.
Society of Mary spokesman Father Tim Duckworth yesterday said Judge Trapski was a member of the Silverstream college's
trust board and was also involved in assisting the Catholic Church to set up
the complaints procedure and protocol committee, which aims to assist victims
of abuse.
"I imagine that his advice re law and the committees was sought at
times."
In a statement issued yesterday, Society of Mary Provincial Father Dennis
O'Hagan said he deeply regretted what had happened.
"I do not offer any excuses nor do I wish to retreat in any way from my
apology and deep regret. I also very much regret that errors
of judgment were made in the past.
"With the wisdom of hindsight, we can see how inadequate the response was
at the time of Mr Woodcock's offending and at the time people acted according
to the expert advice (on sex offending) they received. Sadly that was
inadequate."
Caption
Guilty: Former priest Alan Woodcock yesterday pleaded
guilty to 21 charges relating to sexual abuse of 11 boys between 1978 and 1987.
Documents reveal Catholic priests knew about his offending and kept it out of the
public eye.
Andrew Gorrie/Dominion Post