Priestly sex-assaults on children were "not a crime", a bishop tells the Royal Commission

In a public hearing on 13 September 2016, Australia's national child-abuse Royal Commission heard evidence from a former altar boy about how he was raped by Father John Joseph Farrell at the age of 12 in northern NSW in 1981. The former altar boy (code-named "CPA" at the Royal Commission) explained how his later life was damaged by Farrell's crimes and by the church's cover-up. But at the same public hearing, a church leader (Bishop Bede Heather) told the Royal Commission that he had regarded priestly sex-assaults as merely a "moral failing", not as a crime. In 1989-1992, Bishop Bede Heather allowed Farrell to work as a priest in parishes in western Sydney, thus putting more children in danger.
John Joseph Farrell is currently serving a minimum 18-year jail term after being convicted in May 2016 for 79 child sex crimes, including the assault of the above-mentioned altar boy, "CPA". Additional charges (involving five more alleged victims) have recently been brought against Farrell, with court proceedings scheduled to begin in Sydney in April 2017.
Under civil law (as distinct from Catholic Church law), sexual assault of a child is a crime, not merely a "moral failing".

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