Lawyers for the Catholic Church could resurrect a legal strategy to defend a civil claim launched by the father of a former choirboy who prosecutors had alleged was sexually abused by George Pell in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral.
One of the choirboys died in his 30s in 2014 from an accidental heroin overdose, having never made a complaint against Pell.in the Supreme Court to sue the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and Pell.Credit:Lawyer Lisa Flynn, Shine Lawyers’ chief legal officer, said the father – listed with the court under the pseudonym RWQ – had suffered “significant psychological harm” since his son’s death and after learning of the allegations involving his son. Police contacted the father in 2015.
Barrister Geraldine Gray, for the archdiocese, was unable to say whether the church’s lawyers would use the defence, but told the court it could be the “logical conclusion” they reached.The Ellis defence was named after John Ellis, a former altar boy abused by a priest, whose case for compensation failed when the church successfully argued in a NSW court it could not be sued as it did not exist in a legal sense because property assets were held in a trust immune to lawsuits.
He said he felt his son had been taken away from him. “And it’s not only me but it’s his sister and his mother. We’ve all missed out on him. Why? Why?”
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