Catholic Diocese of Wollongong

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in its Final Report released in 2017 on Religious Institutions revealed that the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong was a diocese with a high overall proportion of priest members who were alleged perpetrators (11.7 per cent) in Australia. The Diocese covers the Illawarra and Southern Highland regions of New South Wales. The period looked at was between 1950 to 2010 and it was substantially higher than the national average (7 per cent). During this period, the Diocese had 106 priests of which 10 were identified as alleged perpetrators.

The final report also indicated that 33 people made a claim of child sexual abuse to the Diocese of Wollongong between 1980 to 2015. Offenders include Father Peter Lewis Comensoli, Brother Michael Evans, and Brother John Gerard Nestor. One particular offender, Brother John Gerard Nestor, was known for running camps for boys within the diocese and encouraging them to swim naked and talk about their genitalia. Brother Nestor was latter dismissed by the Catholic Church due to allegations of child sexual abuse and other inappropriate conduct. However, it must be noted that his conduct and his position within the diocese was for a long time tolerated by the Catholic Church.

Moody Law (formerly Artemis Legal) has in the past represented and is still representing clients who were victims of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong. We invite former victims to contact us to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

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