Catholic Church Abuse

The first allegations at St Mary’s Agricultural School emerged in the late 1920s, with the Christian Brothers’ Provincial Council becoming aware of abuse issues as early as 1919. Critical management failures were particularly evident from 1947 to 1968.

The case of Brother Edward Mamo, a former Catholic religious Brother, brings to the forefront the serious issue of abuse within the institutional settings of Monivae College in Hamilton, Victoria and Chevalier College in Bowral in NSW

The Catholic Diocese of Wollongong has been marred by serious allegations of historical institutional child sexual abuse involving key figures such as John Gerard Nestor, Father Peter Lewis Comensoli, and Brother Michael Evans.

From the late 20th century through recent years, over 150 Marist Brothers have been accused of child sexual abuse, encompassing a broad range of illicit conduct.

Brian Spillane faced numerous charges related to sexual offences against children. He was convicted for sexually abusing seven students between 1974 and 1990 at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst.

Father David Rapson is a former Catholic priest who was convicted of multiple sexual offences against children. He was associated with the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order that operates schools in Australia. Rapson’s crimes took place at several Catholic schools in Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales.

The judicial system ultimately held Brother Bernard McGrath accountable, convicting him of 64 offences and sentencing him to 33 years in prison for crimes that spanned multiple locations, impacting dozens of children under his care.

Red Bend Catholic College, an esteemed independent co-educational Catholic school in Forbes, New South Wales, is embroiled in allegations of child sexual abuse involving members of the Marist Brothers, notably Brother Kevin Callixtus Hogan and Brother Malcolm Hall.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse cast a revealing light on a series of troubling incidents at Marist College Ashgrove, a notable private school in Brisbane, Queensland.