A man who says he was sexually abused by the headmaster of a NSW
Catholic boarding school in the 1980s has been accused of making up lies
to claim compensation from the church.
The complainant alleges Peter William Dwyer, 68,
assaulted him when he was in Year 8 at St Stanislaus College at
Bathurst, and threatened to expel him if he told anyone about "their
secret".
Jurors in the NSW District Court trial heard on Thursday
the complainant had also made other allegations of a sexual nature
against Dwyer, which he now admits are false.
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The complainant said he "set right the wrongs" by correcting the mistakes in a police statement.
"You were prepared to make up fantastic stories to get
compensation out of the Catholic Church?" Dwyer's barrister, Stephen
Hanley, SC, suggested to him on Thursday.
"No, that's not correct," the witness replied, adding
that he had made errors in his statements to the church but they were
not deliberate.
"I did not concoct something for my own personal benefit."
The complainant also denied including in his police
statement for the purpose of "dramatic flair" that he was watching a
crucifix above Dwyer's bed during the incident.
Dwyer, an Order of Australia recipient, has pleaded not
guilty to 10 charges including indecent assault and having sexual
intercourse with a person under the age of 16.
The crimes were allegedly committed between 1977 and 1992 against four boys at the school.
In his evidence on Thursday, the complainant said the
attack occurred in Dwyer's room, where he'd been sent to be disciplined
for drinking alcohol.
He said Dwyer embraced him and asked, "What would your
mother think?", before sliding his hands underneath his clothes,
touching his buttocks and penis.
"He was stroking it and playing with it. He said ... this was our secret - I wasn't to tell anyone or he'd have me expelled."
Dwyer, a former Vincentian Brother, performed oral sex on the student and then told him to do the same to him, the court heard.
Asked why he went through with the act, the complainant, who says he was 13 or 14 at the time, replied: "Because I was scared.
"I said I wanted to go back to the dorm and it was
reiterated I was not to speak of this - no one would believe me - but if
I did, I would be in a lot of trouble."
Under cross-examination, he said he had no recollection
of telling staff at a Sydney hospital after a suicide attempt in 1999
that he had been raped by a priest at the age of 12.
He denied a suggestion by Mr Hanley that he had repeated the allegation over the years for sympathy.
The trial, before Judge Deborah Sweeney, is continuing.