Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli loses appeal of $2m alter boy payout
Archbishop loses bid to cut payout to altar boy raped in bushes by depraved Catholic priest
- Archbishop loses bid to cut altar boy payout
- Victoria man will receive nearly $2 million in damages
- He was abused by former priest Desmond Gannon
A Catholic archbishop has lost an attempt to have a nearly $2 million court order reduced to an altar boy who was the victim of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of a pedophile priest.
Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli has appealed a High Court decision to award $1.9 million in damages to one of former priest Desmond Gannon’s victims after finding him vicariously liable for the abuse.
Gannon sexually assaulted the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, three times between 1968 and 1970 while he was an altar boy and student at a Catholic primary school in regional Victoria.
The priest drove the 11-year-old boy to a remote forest area where he molested and raped him. He was terrified that Gannon would take a shovel, kill him and bury him. Gannon was sentenced to 25 months in prison in 2009 for the abuse.
A former altar boy who was sexually assaulted by former priest Desmond Gannon in 1968 and 1970 has been awarded nearly $2 million in damages. The victim brought the case against Peter Comensoli, claiming that the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne was liable (Photo: St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne)
The victim said the abuse had affected his entire life as he continued to suffer from poor mental health, contemplated suicide and abused alcohol to numb his pain.
He was awarded $1,908,647 in damages, including for economic loss and future treatment costs, from Judge Andrew Keogh in June 2022, with the judge finding Gannon’s abuse “heinous.”
“The impact of the abuse has changed every aspect of his life in a dramatically destructive way,” he said at the time.
Archbishop Comensoli appealed the payout, claiming it should be reduced because some of the victim’s injuries were caused by factors outside of the abuse.
His lawyers claimed that some of the man’s psychological, physical and economic injuries were caused by an unstable upbringing, his parents’ divorce and a culture of drinking with his peers.
Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli (pictured) has appealed a Supreme Court decision to award $1.9 million in damages to one of former priest Desmond Gannon’s victims
But three judges rejected the appeal on Thursday, saying the archbishop’s arguments were unconvincing.
The judges of the Court of Appeal said that the victim continued to suffer the consequences of the abuse to this day.
“The abuse occurred at a time when the respondent was young, extremely vulnerable and dependent on his environment for care and support,” said Judges David Beach, Richard Niall and Stephen Kay.
“His ability to navigate life’s inevitable challenges was severely compromised.”
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