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> Monsignor defrocked Monsignor defrocked The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has defrocked seven priests accused of molesting children in 2002. The seven included the Reverand Monsignor Frederick Ryan, a vice-chancellor of the archdiocese, accused of sexually abusing 2 teenage boys and photographing them naked in his quarters 25 years ago. Pedophile priest jailed Parish priest, Paul David Ryan, 59, was yesterday sentenced, by Magistrate Michael Stone, to 18 months' jail with a minimum non-parole period of 12 months, on 5 counts of indecently assaulting 2 teenage boys at Penshurst in 1989-90. Prosecutor Sgt Sandra Skilton said that Ryan showed one of the Penshurst victims a videotape containing sex scenes from various movies, made him take a bath with him and masturbated him on several occasions. Ryan first struck trouble with church authorities when he was asked to leave an Adelaide seminary where he started training but, despite the concerns of church leaders, was ordained at St Patrick's Cathedral in Ballarat in 1976. He was sent to the US for counselling and treatment because of concerns over his behaviour and had then sexually abused boys in the United States. Despite being exposed as a pedophile in the US, Ryan was appointed parish priest at Penshurst, where the offences occurred, in 1989. One of Ryan's Victorian victims later committed suicide. Mr Stone said Ryan had grossly abused his position of trust and his behaviour had been that of “classic grooming of young people for sexual pleasure''. Broken Rites sparked off this court case and began working on it 13 years ago. Boys' abuser goes to jail Paul Ronald Goldsmith, 60, dubbed Tasmania's most prolific pedophile, has been jailed for 6½ years for abusing 20 boys. Goldsmith admitted to 36 counts of indecent assault, 4 counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a person under 17, 1 count of aggravated sexual assault and 1 count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a young person. The judge commented that Goldsmith utilised a variety of means to bring himself into contact with potential victims and obtain their trust, including associating himself with religious and youth groups. The child abuse support group Beyond Abuse was involved in bringing Goldsmith’s crimes to the attention of the Tasmania Police. Justice Evans imposed a 4 year non-parole period on Goldsmith. Suspended jail term for ex-Catholic headmaster A former Catholic school headmaster at St Paul's Catholic College in Traralgon in Victoria, Brother Gerard McNamara, who indecently assaulted 7 students in the early 1970s, yesterday received a suspended jail term. The assaults, reported in 2003, mainly took place in a sports storage shed, where McNamara massaged the students, aged between 11 and 14, after they suffered sport injuries. In sentencing McNamara to a 36 month jail term fully suspended for 2 years, the County Court judge said he took into account the "lower end of the scale of offending". "What you actually did to these victims was not as bad as unfortunately is often the case", he said. But a victim who attended court yesterday said the sentence was unjust: "We were 11, 12 and 13 years old; there is no lower end of the scale. He was a predator. He had straps to belt you with in one pocket and a tube of Dencorub in the other". The victim said that when he was taken to the shed by McNamara, he was asked to remove his trousers and was rubbed with heat balm in his genital area. |
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