11 March 2008

Another Marist Brother Sentenced for Sexual Abuse of Students

| BerraBoy68
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The following article was forwarded to me by the BrokenRites team this morning. If this is what Kostka can expect when he is sentenced later this month for sexually abusing students at Marist College Canberra, the system really is broken. Note also the reference in the article to Marist Brothers spokesman ‘Alexis Turton’. This is the Brother that Kostka is currently living with pending his sentencing. Turton seems to be a full time carer for alleged child abusers within the Marist order.

In any event, 18 months for abusing 8 students seems incredibly light! Hopefully the ACT system might provide greater justice for those abused… but I’m not holding my breath!

http://news.theage.com.au/marist-brother-jailed-for-18-months/20080310-1yfw.html
Marist brother jailed for 18 months
Australian Associated Press
The Age website, March 10, 2008 – 7:12PM


A Catholic brother who molested eight students at a Sydney school in the 1970s could be a free man as early as next year, after a judge on Monday jailed him for at least 18 months.

Ross Francis Murrin, 52, was 18 when he was appointed a teacher at the Marist Brothers’ school Daceyville, in Sydney’s east, in 1974.

Murrin went on to molest eight students, aged between nine and 11, who were in his care.
The abuse often occurred when Murrin asked the boys to come to his desk and invited them to sit on his lap.

He would then fondle them in front of the rest of the class.

A number of the offences took place on a religious retreat or during detention, with one boy molested while the class was in the library watching a movie.

The most serious incident occurred during a weekend, when Murrin grabbed one of the victims from behind and pinned him to the floor before pulling his pants down and trying to kiss him.

Murrin himself had been habitually sexually abused, between the ages of eight and 16, by an older cousin.

He taught in the Marist system until two of his victims came forward to the church in August 2002.

In the Sydney District Court on Monday, he was jailed for a maximum three years and three months on 17 charges of indecent assault.

He pleaded guilty to all counts and admitted there were other occasions he had abused the children for which he had not been charged.

Judge Helen Murrell said the offences were generally “impulsive or opportunistic”, but Murrin’s position of authority over the students was an aggravating factor.

“The offender breached the trust reposed in him by his pupils, their parents and the church,” Judge Murrell said.

“The victims … were affected by having witnessed earlier assaults. They felt violated, ashamed and isolated.”

The fact that Murrin molested the students openly in front of one another indicated he had, at the time, little insight into the extent to which his behaviour was “morally reprehensible”, the judge said.

However, he had since voluntarily undertaken a nine-month residential rehabilitation program for sex-offending clergymen, and was at little risk of re-offending, Judge Murrell said.

The fact he was charged under the laws of the 1970s had resulted in the low sentences, the judge said.

“In 1974, non-custodial sentences were common for offences of this type,” she said.

“(Since then) the community has come to … understand that authority figures, even figures of religious authority, are not immune from such conduct.”

For some of the victim’s families, on Monday was the first time they had heard the details of Murrin’s offending.

The father of one victim, who died of a drug overdose in 1987 and took the secret of Murrin’s abuse to his grave, left the court overcome by emotion.

Speaking outside court, Marist Brothers spokesman Alexis Turton apologised to the victims on behalf of the order.

With time already served, Murrin will be eligible for parole in July next year.

© 2008 AAP

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oldcgsboy said :

trying to find more cgs kids that went through similar issues to the marist kids.
not sure how to contact the marist support group.

Oldcgsboy – Please contact me at either timeforhealingACT@gmail.com or berraboy68@gmail.com

trying to find more cgs kids that went through similar issues to the marist kids.
not sure how to contact the marist support group.

Canberra Gardner… Ray and Kostaka… no surprise to me. I really like Ray as I think we have a bond, we got on very well and he bacame a solid family friend for several years.

However, last time I saw Kostka was at Paul’s funeral. He seemed strangely happy and was smiling a lot. At one point i told him i now knew why the brothers wore cassocks as it kept out the cold (Pauls funeral was Freezing). His response was to tell me that his “cassock covered a whole host of sins”. And that at a funeral for a bloke we now know as a peadophile! BTW: I was at the funeral as I always thought Paul and I were friends. He looked after me after my bother died. I only found out he was a kiddy-fiddler about 3 years ago. I now question his taking me out of class and buying me lunch, taking me driving etc….

Canberra Gardener8:49 pm 21 May 08

Speaking of Ray……..who I have always held the highest regard…..and in no way suggest any wrongdoing like his brother Paul did……..

…….I am wondering why he was seen hugging Kostka (outside the court)after the last court appearance in May……seemed a bit odd to me…….given the history.

Canberra Gardener… If I knew exactly when Kostka (AKA John Chute) was going to be sentenced, then yes. I think a show of support for victims would be in order.

For info… Last week I had a look though Marist’s 40 year history (released with little fanfare a few weeks ago). It mentions Kostka in one sentence only saying he pleaded guilty in 2007 to several cases of sexual abuse of students. The sentence appears in a single page headed ‘Scandle’, the content of which states mainly with the current Headmasters message to parents that the school is safe etc…. Interestingly, neither Paul Lyons or his brother Ray (who also taught at the school in the 80’s and 90’s) appear anywhere in the official history. A re-writing of history perhaps??? In fact, there is no mention either that 5 teachers have now been named in this ‘scandle’. Shame, Marist, Shame.

Canberra Gardener7:57 pm 21 May 08

Berryboy68…….are you calling for victims or their supporters to attend court in June, as a show of support? I am not sure whether I saw a recent comment or an old one. but cannot find it again.

Canberra Gardener7:33 pm 21 May 08

Another Pedophile jailed.

Another happy day.

Canberra Gardener7:32 pm 21 May 08

Nine years’ jail for ‘arrogant’ Orkopoulos
ABC Online
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/21/2251378.htm?section=justin

Former New South Wales Government minister Milton Orkopoulos has been sentenced to at least nine years and three months in jail on 30 child sex and drugs charges.

Orkopoulos showed no emotion as he was sentenced to a maximum of 13 years and 11 months’ jail for having sex with three boys and supplying them with heroin and marijuana between 1995 and 2006.

The former Aboriginal affairs minister’s three victims and their families applauded when Judge Ralph Coolahan handed down his sentence.

The 50-year-old former Swansea MP looked pale and avoided eye contact with them as he was told he would be eligible for parole on May 18, 2017.

Justice Coolahan told the court Orkopoulos’ “premeditated, predatory and manipulative” actions had far-reaching effects on his victims and involved a gross breach of trust.

He said the ex-minister had been “frequently arrogant and often flippant in his evidence and made a number of claims which were patently false”.

The judge said the offender would be given protection in prison, given his former political profile.

He said Orkopoulos would be at risk from other inmates but that he was also at risk of self harm.

‘Colleagues knew’

Outside court, two of the victims said they were relieved the married father of three had been handed what they called a fair sentence.

One of them, Ben Blackburn, was just 16 when Orkopoulos took him to the national ALP conference, where he propositioned and indecently assaulted him.

Mr Blackburn has condemned the Labor Party for protecting the disgraced MP and repeated his call for an investigation into who knew what.

“I honestly believe that … members of the upper echelons of the ALP were told about the allegations before Milton was arrested,” he said.

“I will always believe that and I will always stand by it.”

He said he hoped the trial would encourage more victims of sex abuse to come forward.

“The moral of today’s story really is anybody can come forward,” he said.

“Members of Parliament are no bigger or better than anybody else.

“You can get justice, you will be believed. Go to Bravehearts, go to the police and tell somebody what happened to you because these grubs can’t be allowed to continue what they’ve been doing for too long.

“We need tougher truth in sentencing laws in this country and we need a royal commission into child sexual assault in Australia and I believe that’s achievable in the next five years.”

Another victim, who cannot be named, said the trial had been an emotional experience.

“This is a good thing for me to move on in life…” he said. “I needed this… I want to make up for the 10 years I’ve lost.”

He said Orkopoulos was “gutless” and should suffer in jail.

“I hope he gets what’s coming to him,” he said. “He’s taken away so much of my life.”

Family fund

It was revealed this morning that a group of federal and state Labor MPs were asking their colleagues to donate $100 each to Orkopoulos’ estranged family.

The MP who replaced Orkopoulos in Swansea, Robert Coombes, said the fundraising effort had received widespread community support in the Hunter region.

The former frontbencher’s victims have supported the effort.

“I don’t have any problems with raising money for [Orkopoulos’ wife] Kathy,” Mr Blackburn said. “She’s just as much a victim as we are.”

A spokesman for Premier Morris Iemma has meanwhile released a statement responding to the sentencing, saying it has brought “a welcome closure to the case”.

“This man is now in jail where he belongs,” he said. “His repugnant double life has been exposed and he has been prosecuted for his vile acts.”

Mr Iemma says he is pleased justice has been served and he hopes the sentence offers some comfort to the victims.

Double life

Orkopoulos met his first victim in 1995. He introduced the 15-year-old to heroin and also gave him cannabis at various locations around Newcastle in exchange for sex.

Two years later, he started abusing a second boy, taking him to Parliament House and giving him thousands of dollars from his electorate office. The Crown described the cash as “hush money” during the trial.

Orkopoulous had claimed the teenager was an adult when their relationship began.

At the start of his trial, Orkopoulos pleaded guilty to sharing a joint with a school student at Parliament House while he was still an MP, but he maintained his innocence on the other charges.

He also admitted to possessing child pornography at a time when the Government was strengthening laws against it.

The former minister told the court he had led a double life of drug-taking and gay sex. When exposed, it led to a suicide attempt in 2006.

His most serious charge carried a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.

At least he got time for his offences in the 1970s. If this happened in the ACT, it would have been outside the statute of limitations (ala Kostka’s pre-1985 charges being dropped).

18 months?

I could live with that if they cut his balls off as well.

Otherwise, despicable.

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