Priest charged with indecently assaulting 12 boys at Chevalier College, Burradoo, New South Wales, Australia

Father Anthony William Peter Caruana, 79, a Catholic priest, has been charged with indecently assaulting 12 boys at Chevalier College, a boarding school in Burradoo in the NSW Southern Highlands, during the 1980s. The Crown alleges that he assaulted the boys while serving as a dormitory manager, rugby coach and band teacher at the college between 1982 and 1988. He has pleaded not guilty to 29 charges, including four counts of homosexual intercourse with a student and several counts of indecent assault of a person under 16. These remain allegations until proven in court.

The trial opened at the Sydney Downing Centre, where Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay outlined the allegations to the jury and said the 12 complainants would give evidence over an eight-week trial. Among the allegations is the indecent assault of a student who took part in an extracurricular school activity in 1984. Ms Keay said the complainant would tell the jury that, after practice, Father Caruana allegedly pressed against him in a sexual manner and said words to the effect of “God will love you if you let me teach you.” The student was allegedly told he would be expelled if he told anyone.

Ms Keay also said another former student would recall an incident in Father Caruana’s office, which she described as an alleged sexual assault. These matters have not been tested by the court, and the accused has not been found guilty of any of them.

The Crown told the court that police had located in church records a questionnaire completed in 1989, the year the complaints were made, which Ms Keay said was in the accused’s handwriting. The Crown alleges that when asked what he liked least about himself, Father Caruana wrote “my sexual problem,” and that when asked whether he felt something might be wrong with him, he wrote that he had experienced “sexual problems” for about 30 years. Ms Keay said that when asked whether he could change something about himself, he allegedly wrote “this feeling I have towards young boys.” The defence has not yet responded to this evidence in court beyond the opening address.

Ms Keay said that after the 1989 complaints, Father Caruana was moved from a “teaching role to an archiving role in Sydney” and did not teach again. She also said the Crown expects to hear from a former manager in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who allegedly wrote a file note in 1993 stating that “Tony acknowledges he is a paedophile and there is little likelihood of change.” Ms Keay said the former manager could not remember writing the note but would likely tell the jury he would not have written it unless that had been said to him. The Crown’s claims about this note are untested.

Defence barrister Bernard Brassil told the jury it was vital they give his client a “fair trial” and urged them to be patient.

Source: Read the original report