RETIRED Catholic priest Alderick D'Cruz has been convicted of indecent assault nearly 25 years after he kissed a teenager girl who came to his presbyery for help. Leaning heavily on a walking stick and grasping the hand of a supporter, Fr D'Cruz, 78, of the Melbourne suburb of Clayton South, cut a frail figure as he shuffled slowly into Shepparton County Court today to plead guilty to the charge.Judge Frank Shelton placed him on a two-year adjournment of good behaviour - tarnishing his previously unblemished reputation - and ordered him to pay $500 to the St Vincent de Paul society.
"Your offence was a gross breach of trust and a complete negation of your position as an ordained Catholic priest, especially after you had just celebrated mass,'' Judge Shelton said.
"This girl had come to you to seek assistance. Instead she received your unsought advances.''
Crown prosecutor Tom Lynch told the court the 17-year-old went to St Joseph's parish in Benalla, in northeast Victoria, seeking Fr D'Cruz's help after she became stranded in the city when she missed a bus to her Tungamah home in 1984.
Following mass, he invited her to his presbytery where he showed her a photo album from the time he was her religious instructor.
"He invited her to sit on his knee to show her the photographs. (The victim) felt uncomfortable but went along with it,'' Mr Lynch said.
"He had his arms around her waist and shoulder.''
Mr Lynch said Fr D'Cruz phoned the victim's mother, arranging to send her home on the train.
As they got up to leave, "he turned her around and kissed her on the lips, squeezing her waist,'' Mr Lynch said.
"She was shocked and began to shake.
"He drove her to Benalla railway station, where he kissed her again in the car.''
In sentencing, Judge Shelton said a psychologist's report found Fr D'Cruz did not regard the act as inappropriate.
"He is very sexually naive and immature and has adhered to his oath of celibacy,'' he said.
Prior to sentencing, Fr D'Cruz's lawyer Julie Sutherland said her client suffered from a "constellation'' of medical ailments including Parkinson's disease and urged Judge Shelton not to convict him, saying it would be "a black stain he would carry to the grave''.
The judge resisted the plea but acknowledged considerable publicity that surrounded the charges being laid was "a punishment within itself''.
The victim reported the incident to her mother the night it happened but did not report it to police until other charges of rape and indecent assault brought against Fr D'Cruz came to light a year ago.
The other charges were later dropped. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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