FOR MANY CENTURIES now the Catholic Church leaders have run riot with abuse of its followers untouched by the Governments of the day and their various enforcers. There seems to be a common interest that allegations are followed by denials, cover-ups and pay offs. Typically there is a counterattack on the credibility and character of the victims who are often framed and driven underground or into self destruction of various kinds sometimes culminating in their suicide. This attitude and method of response is still favoured by these institutions,
especially politicians and the various Police Forces around the country.
However, not all wrongdoers stay on top and indeed I further want to record that there has been a spectacular fall from grace by a number of serving or ex-priest boy abusers, particularly around the Bathurst region. One such character was (to coin a phrase) exposed in my second book, If the Hat Fits Wear It, the sequel to The Fifth Estate. In that work there were heart-rending accounts in several chapters which graphically illustrated the terrible sexual depravities of various Catholic priests who were, for the first time, named and shamed. One of those was Anthony Patrick McMahon who allegedly sexually assaulted a boy child named Leo McVeigh. Despite one of his teachers concluding that the only explanation for McVeigh’s consequent and seemingly anti-social behaviour was that he was possessed by the devil, an internal report by the Church found in clear terms that although McMahon denied the allegations against him, “Leo McVeigh appears to be an honest and reliable person.” However, it made the observation that Sexual abuse usually occurs without witnesses and without such witnesses it is often not possible to be definitive.