Catholic Diocese of Townsville
The Catholic Diocese of Townsville is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It was erected in 1930 and covers North Queensland.
In June 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse published in “Analysis Of Claims Of Child Sexual Abuse made with respect To Catholic Church Institutions In Australia” the following data in relation to sexual abuse within the diocese:
Between 1950 and 2010, 29 people made a claim of child sexual abuse received by the Diocese of Townsville (1% of all claims of child sexual abuse);
This represented 2% of all claims received by dioceses/archdioceses with only priest
members.
Of these claims of child sexual abuse:
a. 19 (66%) identified one or more priest as an alleged perpetrator;
b. Eight (28%) identified one or more lay person as an alleged perpetrator.
Some claims identified more than one alleged perpetrator with differing religious statuses;
One (3%) person made a claim of child sexual abuse which identified more than one alleged
perpetrator;
Four (14%) people who made a claim of child sexual abuse also made an allegation of
physical abuse;
The gender of claimants (where the gender was reported) was 31% male and 69% female;
The average age of the claimants at the time of the alleged child sexual abuse was 10 years
of age;
69% of claimants were under the age of 13 years at the time of the alleged child sexual
abuse and 31% were between 13 and 18 years of age (where the age was known);
54% of claimants alleged that the incidents of child sexual abuse occurred in the period from
1970 to 1989 (inclusive);
The largest proportion of claimants alleged that the first incident of child sexual abuse
occurred in the 1970s (42%).
In relation to alleged perpetrators within the diocese, the Royal Commission showed the following
14 alleged perpetrators were subject to one or more claims of child sexual abuse received by
the Diocese of Townsville. This represents 1% of all alleged perpetrators and 2% of alleged
perpetrators identified by archdioceses/dioceses with only priest members;
Of the alleged perpetrators subject to one or more claims of child sexual abuse:
a. 13 had a known identity (93%). In one case (7%) the survey response did not contain
enough information to identify the alleged perpetrator.
b. Where this information was known, 100% were male and 0% was female.
c. Where this information was known, 43% were alive at the time the first claim of
child sexual abuse was made against them;
The average number of claims received per alleged perpetrator was 2.1;
Of the alleged perpetrators subject to one or more claims of child sexual abuse;
a. Seven (50%) were reported to be a priest.
b. Five (36%) were reported to be a lay person.
c. In two (14%) of the cases the religious status of the accused was not known.
The highest number of claims of child sexual abuse received by the Diocese of Townsville
against a single alleged perpetrator was 14; and
One (8%) of the alleged perpetrators was the subject of more than 10 claims of child sexual abuse.
One of the worst perpetrators within the Diocese was Father Neville Joseph Creen. In 2003 and 2004, Father Creen pleaded guilty to indecently touching up to 22 young girls sexually when he ministered at the Good Shepherd parish in Mount Isa, Queensland in the 1970s. The girls’ ages ranged from five to 13 years old.
We invite former victims of child sexual abuse with the Catholic Diocese of Townsville to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.
Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.