MELBOURNE'S
Catholic archdiocese actively protected a paedophile priest by moving
him to a different parish, where he continued to abuse a boy, a judge
says.
Russell Robert Walker, 64, was a parish priest when he repeatedly
abused two altar boys in the 1970s, despite Melbourne's then-archbishop
Frank Little being warned by one victim's mother.
Jailing Walker
for five years today, Victorian County Court Judge Felicity Hampel said
the church's response to the warning was scandalous.
"Although you're not to be punished for the institutional response, what happened was scandalous," she said.
"This
boy was not the only victim of clerical abuse in the Melbourne
archdiocese, nor the only victim whose welfare was ignored while the
church took active steps to protect the priest and itself."
The church hierarchy shifted Walker to another parish when approached by the victim's mother.
But after the move, Walker again abused the boy, taking him to a motel to try to conceal his crime.
"Although
not a single step was taken by the church to protect the victim, offer
him counselling or support, or report the complaint of sexual abuse by
one of its ordained priests of a child in his pastoral care to the
police, you were warned a complaint had been made and thereafter
transferred to a nearby parish," Judge Hampel told Walker.
She
also criticised the church for failing to defrock Walker, despite him
leaving priestly duties in his 30s, and even when the allegations came
to light in 2011.
"It is in my view remarkable that the church hierarchy has not taken any steps to strip you of your priesthood," she said.
Judge Hampel said Walker's case was one that should be examined by the royal commission into child abuse.
Walker
was 27 and a freshly ordained priest when he began abusing the two
altar boys, aged 14, at a parish in Melbourne's southeast in the 1970s.
One of those victims was forced to endure three years of abuse.
On one occasion Walker plied one of the boys with wine and at other times he would climb into bed with them as they slept.
He also took one of the boys to a secluded Melbourne beach where he ordered him to strip naked.
The two victims, now aged in their 50s, wept in court as Judge Hampel detailed Walker's offending.
"You are truly courageous men," Judge Hampel told them.
"You
have not given up on yourselves, or on life, although you mourn the
loss of the lives you should have been able to enjoy, had this not
happened to you."
Judge Hampel said Walker had targeted two vulnerable victims and his offending was a gross breach of trust.
"To them, you represented the church, its teachings, values and moral precepts," she told Walker.
Walker pleaded guilty to three representative counts of indecent assault.
Judge Hampel noted that Walker made full admissions to police and accepted he had remorse for his crimes.
She sentenced him to five years in prison with a minimum term of three years.