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| Senior Catholic figure questioned by police over reporting of fellow priest's abuse | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A former vicar general of Sydney has been interviewed by police over whether he and others failed to report paedophile ex-priest John Farrell to authorities, the child sex abuse royal commission has heard. | |
| John Usher told the royal commission he gave a statement to police from strike force Glenroe in May. | |
| “They told me that the department of police prosecutions, the DPP, had asked them to investigate this Farrell matter to see whether I and others had failed to report matters to the police,” Usher told the commission. | |
| As early as 1990, the former Catholic New South Wales priest John Joseph Farrell had been assessed by a fellow clergyman as an arrogant narcissist who had a worrying obsession with children, an inquiry has heard. | |
| Usher earlier told the child sex abuse royal commission Farrell – who was convicted of abusing 12 children in regional New South Wales and sentenced to 29 years in jail in May – “went on and on” about his love of children during a 1990 interview. | |
| Farrell, then a priest at Parramatta, told Usher he had a “great ministry with children” and criticised other priests for not spending time with youngsters and for not supporting him. | Farrell, then a priest at Parramatta, told Usher he had a “great ministry with children” and criticised other priests for not spending time with youngsters and for not supporting him. |
| Usher – then the head of the church’s welfare agency – said he judged the other priest to be a narcissistic person who had a serious psychiatric illness and could pose a risk to children. | Usher – then the head of the church’s welfare agency – said he judged the other priest to be a narcissistic person who had a serious psychiatric illness and could pose a risk to children. |
| “He was an odd bod, you know, [and] my thinking was this man should never have been made a priest,” he told the hearing on Wednesday. | “He was an odd bod, you know, [and] my thinking was this man should never have been made a priest,” he told the hearing on Wednesday. |
| Complaints about Farrell abusing altar boys first surfaced in 1984 when he was an assistant priest at Moree, in northern NSW. | Complaints about Farrell abusing altar boys first surfaced in 1984 when he was an assistant priest at Moree, in northern NSW. |
| The commission has heard that although Farrell was removed from Moree, he was appointed to parishes in Tamworth in 1984 and Parramatta in 1989 after a psychologist concluded he posed no risk to children. | The commission has heard that although Farrell was removed from Moree, he was appointed to parishes in Tamworth in 1984 and Parramatta in 1989 after a psychologist concluded he posed no risk to children. |
| After the 1990 interview Usher referred Farrell to a psychiatrist, who allegedly reported to the then bishop of Armidale, Kevin Manning, in early 1992 that the priest had need for “intense intimacy” and should be kept away from children. | After the 1990 interview Usher referred Farrell to a psychiatrist, who allegedly reported to the then bishop of Armidale, Kevin Manning, in early 1992 that the priest had need for “intense intimacy” and should be kept away from children. |
| The commission heard Farrell was stood down from public ministry in June 1992 after using inappropriate language with altar servers in Parramatta. | The commission heard Farrell was stood down from public ministry in June 1992 after using inappropriate language with altar servers in Parramatta. |
| Usher said when he was asked to assess Farrell again in September 1992 he was surprised the priest had not changed for the better since receiving psychiatric treatment. | Usher said when he was asked to assess Farrell again in September 1992 he was surprised the priest had not changed for the better since receiving psychiatric treatment. |
| “What I saw was not just a man who was improved in some way, I saw a man who was much worse,” he said. | “What I saw was not just a man who was improved in some way, I saw a man who was much worse,” he said. |
| The inquiry continues. | The inquiry continues. |