AN Anglican priest who spoke out against serial paedophile priest Peter Rushton told the royal commission the process had taken a huge toll on him.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
He has also told of hearing that Rushton had been with two vice squad detectives joking about which boys they would take to their tents that night after a scouting trip to the Williams River, in the Hunter Valley.
This anecdote – which came from a church member – marks a potential wider link to paedophile activity outside of the church.
Reverend Roger Dyer told the commission’s pre-lunch hearing he was the priest at St Luke’s Wallsend from 2006 to 2010, following Rushton into the parish.
Having worked in parishes that had been damaged by paedophilia, he said “the signs are the way the men relate to you and I just had a really, really bad feeling”.
He said he arrived at St Luke’s expecting a congregation of 100 to 110, but the books had been falsified and the real congregation was down to 30 or 40.
He soon learned there were difficulties at the parish but did not know the church had dealt with Rushton by promoting him from St Luke’s to become Archdeacon of Maitland.
Father Dyer said once people began to trust him at the church, the stories began to flow.
He was told about a family “absolutely destroyed by Rushton” where the three children were turned against each other after one alleged Rushton had interfered with him.
He said Rushton was rumoured to have sent love letters to children who were servers or being prepared as servers.
He said he was told about a Wallsend scouts trip to the Williams River area where “Rushton and two vice squad detectives had laughed and joked as the boys were nude swimming as to who they would have in their tents that night”.
He said the man who told him “lives in fear of the police in Newcastle if he ever spoke out”.
He said he had made Bishop Brian Farran had been made aware of the allegations against Rushton from as early as March 2008, although he had come from a difficult period in the Murray Diocese and did not particularly want to get in another “bun-fight with a bishop”.
He said Bishop Farran conducted a healing service at St Luke’s but he was unhappy that Rushton was not mentioned specifically.
Father Dyer said he was also falsely accused of abusing someone at a Wallsend aged care centre and although he was cleared by this through Michael Elliott of the church’s Professional Standards board, he felt he was never properly cleared by Bishop Farran.
He said he was pressured to leave the diocese and to cease work as a priest.
He said he spoke out twice. The first time was in front of Bishop Farran, when he said that people who went to Professional Standards were being treated badly.
“I said this was in support of Michael Elliott,” Father Dyer said.
He said the second time was in 2010 when he put a motion without notice to the Synod arguing that the diocese accept the negative impact of sexual abuse allegations.
He said a small group including Paul Rosser and some of the priests hostile to him tried to stop him tabling the motion.
“When I spoke it was received with a standing ovation and carried by a vast majority of the priests . . .” Father Dyer said.
He said when he left the synod one of the priests said he had “just seen a very brave man had fall on his sword.”
His voice breaking, Father Dyer said he had been unable to get another job in the Anglican church after speaking out.
“No one has ever apologised to me for the treatment of me speaking out,” Father Dyer said.
The hearings continue after lunch on Wednesday.
