Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese settles with another victim of pedophile Priest Vince Ryan

The diocese eventually settled with the victim, who came forward in 2020, after learning there were independent witnesses who were prepared to testify that the then 12-year-old had been an altar boy at St Joseph's Catholic Church, Cessnock in the early 1990s.

Ryan, who died in April last year, abused dozens of boys at locations including The Junction, East Maitland and Cessnock over three decades.

He was initially jailed for 14 years in the late 1990s for abusing 34 boys between 1973 and 1991.

He was sentenced in 2019 to a second jail term of three years and three months after a further two victims came forward.

Slater and Gordon NSW abuse lawyer Jonathan Georgaklis said the tactics used by the diocese's legal representatives in the most recent case compounded his client's trauma and resulted in him incurring additional legal fees.

"In vigorously defending this claim, the diocese argued that because the victim was baptised in the Anglican Church, he would not have received his First Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, therefore could not have been an altar server at any Sunday mass," Mr Georgaklis said.

The diocese obtained statements from multiple sources to support the suggestion that because the complainant could not have been an altar server, he could not have been left alone with Ryan, therefore, could not have been abused.

"This delayed the claim by more than a year and meant he couldn't get the justice he deserved sooner so he could get on with his life.

"It also added an extra year's worth of legal costs, time and trauma for a man whose life was derailed because of what Fr Ryan did to him at the church all those years ago" Mr Georgaklis said

He said it was only after statements were obtained from the victim's family members, other boys who had been altar servers at the same time, and family friends the victim had not had contact with for 20 years, that the church backed down and agreed to settle the claim late last year.

"It's incredibly disappointing for abuse survivors to be treated so poorly by the institution that failed to protect them in the first place and is vicariously liable for the significant impact the abuse they suffered on their lives. Abuse victims deserve better," he said.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle said in a statement that Slater and Gordon had focused on one aspect of the court case and had not acknowledged the evidence the diocese had from people who were involved in the church and the parish at the time that raised serious questions as to what actually happened.

"The doubts that arose in investigating the claim were far broader than a simple question of the religion of the individual involved," the statement said.

"The diocese is obliged to obtain proof, on balance of probabilities, that the alleged abuse occurred.

"When the survivors' lawyers produced credible, independent witness statements in November 2022, the diocese had sufficient certainty that the claim should be settled, despite some unanswered questions remaining. The claim was then settled within a few weeks, at the beginning of December 2022."

"The National Redress Scheme is available for those survivors who wish to avoid the challenges of court or pursuing a civil damages claim directly with the institution where the harm occurred."

The statement also said: "the diocese regrets any further distress caused to survivors during proceedings and offers survivors independent third-party counselling services at no cost to them, whilst their claim is being resolved."

Clergy Abused Network chairperson Robert O'Toole facilitated contact between the victim's legal team and independent witnesses.

"It's their attitude ... they will clutch at any straw to deny things happened," Mr O'Toole said.

"This business of applying for permanent stays in civil cases is just atrocious. That will hopefully be fixed soon."

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