In a court battle against Melbourne’s archbishop, a former altar boy sexually molested by Victorian priest Desmond Gannon was granted nearly $2 million in damages.
The sex abuse victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, sued Peter Comensoli, alleging that the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne was vicariously accountable for his abuse.
After Gannon first assaulted him, the victim claimed he felt as if he was dead, as if the priest had murdered him and the young child he used to be had vanished forever.
Later, he considered suicide and turned to drink to ease his anguish.
Between 1968 and 1970, Gannon molested the victim three times while he was an altar boy and a student at a Catholic primary school in regional Victoria.
In 2009, the former priest was sentenced for the crimes.
Gannon once drove the youngster along dirt roads to a lonely location, where he groped and assaulted him. The youngster was scared that Gannon would take a shovel to him, kill him, and bury him.
The youngster bled profusely as a result of the incident, and in the days that followed, he attempted to conceal it from his family.
Gannon’s abuse was only prevented on another occasion when he was interrupted by another altar boy coming at church.
On a third occasion, the victim eluded Gannon’s hands when he was led into a pump house with the promise of a cigarette.
Gannon allegedly sexually molested another young Catholic kid around 1960, according to the victim.
When the youngster and his mother told a parish priest about the abuse, he disregarded them and did nothing – effectively on behalf of the archdiocese.
On Thursday, a Victorian judge concluded that the archdiocese’s negligence was one of the causes of the boy’s abuse, and that it was therefore vicariously culpable.
The victim was awarded more than $1.9 million in damages, plus interest and expenses, according to the judge.
The victim’s lawyer, Rightside Legal’s Michael Magazanik, said the court decision was the first against the Melbourne archdiocese.
‘My client is completely thrilled and delighted that he’s held the church to account,’ Mr Magazanik said.
‘It completely changes the game for other clerical abuse survivors.’