I was pleased to see reported in The Australian today that the Church of England was providing assistance to sexual abuse victims. For so long there has been denial and rejection, but out of a ghastly story come some good news.
The newspaper’ headline was:
THE child abuse scandal that forced an Anglican archbishop to resign, after two Adelaide priests blew the whistle on pedophiles preying on the Church of England Boys Society in three states, has led to the jailing for at least a decade of a former youth leader.
The article went on to state that Andrew Dawson-Ryan, 60, was jailed for 18 years on 17 counts of having unlawful sex with boys, indecent assault and gross indecency, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
Dawson-Ryan was the fifth former leader of the Church of England Boys Society in South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania to be found guilty of abusing childrenbetween 1972 and 1988
The newspaper went on to report that an Anglican church spokesman said assistance was being provided to seven of Dawson-Ryan’s victims. The church is hoping any other sex abuse survivors will come forward after hearing of yesterday’s sentence.
The church in South Australia has assisted about 80 victims, paying $4 million compensation, since churchmen Don Owers and the late Andrew King went public over the abuse scandal in 2003.
The pair had spent years unsuccessfully lobbying church leaders for an investigation.
Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide Ian George resigned in June 2004 after the church bowed to pressure for an investigation, which was scathing of its treatment of victims.
Judge Barrett said Dawson-Ryan had taken advantage of his position as a “trusted father figure” after taking the boys on camps and interstate trips.
Sentencing Dawson-Ryan, the judge said the former youth leader had not admitted his guilt.
“I do not know to what extent the community can be confident you will not succumb again to the temptations that led you to this offending,” Judge Barrett said.
Louis Victor Daniels was jailed in Tasmania in 2005 for sexually abusing 11 boys between 1976 and 1987.
Another former Anglican priest in Tasmania, Garth Hawkins, was jailed in 2003 for sexually abusing eight boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
Queensland resident Raymond Frederick Ayles was sentenced to four years in 2006 for sexually assaulting a boy while a leader of the society in Adelaide in the 1970s.
John Elliott, who ran a branch of the society in Tasmania before becoming a priest in Queensland, pleaded guilty in 2003 to 10 counts of sodomy and 18 charges of indecently dealing with boys in the 1970s.
For more on this story log-on to The Australlian’s website at: www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
If you want to discuss the case or anything elkse on my blog I will be pleased to hear from you.
Alan Collins
alc@verisona.com
02392380112
13th March ‘09