The Catholic Church in western Victoria has been hit by another scandal as a school camp aimed at assisting children has come under scrutiny over accusations of sexual assault.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A former western Victorian woman is in the process of launching legal action against The Salesians of Don Bosco, a group of Catholic priests and brothers, after claiming she was raped at a camp for teenage girls in the Warrnambool district during the early 1970s.
Lawyer, Dr Judy Courtin, of Judy Courtin Legal, said she had advised the woman that she had a viable claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
She said the victim was aged 10 or 11 years old at the time she claimed she was raped at a 12 Star Club by Salesian Priest, Father John Murphy, who was based at Crossley outside Warrnambool for more than 40 years.
Comment has been sought from the Salesians of Don Bosco, based at Ascot Vale.
"She was one of 20 or 30 girls from a parish in Western Victoria who went to the 12 Star Club in Crossley, near Warrnambool, in the early 1970s," Dr Courtin said.
The camps were for 12 or 13 year old girls but our client went with her older sister. She was the youngest girl at the camp. They travelled by train to Melbourne and then to Warrnambool.
Dr Courtin said it would be alleged Father Murphy admonished the girl for jumping on a trampoline, and as punishment sexually assaulted her and then told her if she told anyone no one would believe her.
Fr Murphy was ordained as priest on July 2, 1950 as a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco of the Australia-Pacific Province.
Shamrock House at Crossley became a base for Cooperators, young Cooperators 12 Star & Dominic Savio clubs, hosting summer and winter camps, with trampolines, a pool and table tennis and eight-ball tables. Dr Courtin said: 'Our client was sexually assaulted on the trampoline'.
Shamrock House has since been sold and is no longer used for camps. The 12 Star Club is no longer in existence.
In a separate allegation, In the book Blood On The Rosary, Margaret Harrod, a former nun, claimed to have been raped by Father Murphy at a 12 Star Club camp in Queensland.
Fr Murphy died in Warrnambool on April 30, 2017, aged 93.
Born in Melbourne, Fr Murphy started his career as a teaching priest in Melbourne and Adelaide.
The Salesians order purchased the old Shamrock Hotel in Crossley when it closed down as a going concern in 1970.
A year later, the order opened the property as Shamrock House, an accommodation place aimed at providing schools from Melbourne with low-cost holidays.
Fr Murphy was chosen to oversee the operation.
Over the next decade, the landscape changed with an increase in demand for the amount of care and accommodation for adults in need.
This led to the decision by the Salesians order in 1984 to make meeting this need the core business of Shamrock House.
In the ensuing years, Fr Murphy and Shamrock House was a destination for those in need, with 40 people staying at the house in times of high need.
Shamrock House closed down in 2010, coinciding with Fr Murphy's retirement.
At the time of his retirement, Fr Murphy told The Standard he was proud of the work done at Shamrock House.
"We have had a lot of people stay here over the years and have helped a large amount of people over that time," Fr Murphy said.
"The local community from Port Fairy, Koroit and Warrnambool have been great to us, as have the Port Fairy and Koroit parishes. They have been very supportive."
-The Standard
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
