New South Wales priest admits to sex on beach, elsewhere
These are only some of the places that Catholic priest Father Tom Knowles has admitted to having sex with a parishioner over a 13-year period.
A Victorian woman has sued the Catholic priest and the order to which he belongs, for breaching duty of care after the two carried on the long-running relationship, despite the priest's vow of chastity.
In a breach of trust case before the NSW Supreme Court, 60-year-old Jennifer Herrick claimed that the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, who employed Father Tom Knowles, failed to act, despite being told by Fr Knowles about the relationship.
In his defence, filed in August, Fr Knowles admitted that he and Ms Herrick maintained a sexual relationship, and often slept in the same bed, but he denied breaching or having a duty of care to the woman.
Ms Herrick said their relationship broke the priest-parishioner mould when she was 19 and "sexually naïve", and that a 27-year-old Father Knowles grabbed her and kissed her after a church event. She said they began to have sex when she was 22 years old and he was 30.
The sexual relationship continued for around 13 years, and ended abruptly 25 years ago, in the late 1980s.
In 2011, Ms Herrick made a complaint to the Blessed Sacrament Fathers. She received compensation, and Fr Knowles was stood aside.
When they delivered the compensation, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers acknowledged that Fr Knowles' conduct was inappropriate, and that Ms Herrick had "endured a great deal of emotional and psychological pain and suffering’’.
After Father Knowles was reinstated in 2012, Ms Herrick began her legal action.He was again stood down in February this year after media reports relating to his relationship.
The Supreme Court last week denied Ms Herrick access to a report compiled by a social worker for the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament about the likelihood of Father Knowles having sex in future, in part because it could damage his reputation.
The breach of trust case will be heard at a later date.
Author: Lachlan Williams; Approving editor: Emily McPherson
Source: Fairfax
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