A retired Christian Brother has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual/indecent assault of boys while he was a dormitory master at a former Goulburn school.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The trial of Brother David Michael Curtin, 67, of Mulgoa started at Downing Centre District Court on Thursday after almost two years in the legal system.
The former Saint Patrick's College teacher and dormitory master was arrested in February 2017 following an investigation by Goulburn-based Strike Force Charish detective David Turner.
- If this article raises issues for you, Lifeline can be called on 13 11 14
After presenting himself at Goulburn Police Station, Curtin was charged with two counts of sexually/indecently assaulting two boys under 16 under his authority. A further charge relating to a third person followed in May 2017.
Police allege that in 1986 and 1987 Curtin touched or fondled the boys' genitals or the immediate area. They were aged 12 to 14 at the time.
Curtin appeared before Judge Mark Buscombe and a 12-member jury on Thursday, neatly dressed in a dark suit and wearing glasses.
In opening statements, solicitor Greg Walsh said his client strongly asserted his innocence and urged the jury to "consider the evidence very, very carefully".
"I say from the outset the accused is not guilty of indecently assaulting these boys," he said.
"He is not guilty of acting in any way inappropriately."
Read more
Crown prosecutor John Bowers told the court Curtin was a teacher and dormitory master at the College in 1986 and 1987. As the latter he was responsible for supervising boarders before and after school duties and activities and ensuring they attended class. He lived in a room at one end of the dormitory in the boarders' quarters.
"You will hear that the accused was a bit of a camera man and often took photos of school events that could be used in the school magazine. ...He was often seen carrying a camera," Mr Bowers said.
He told the court that one complainant would give evidence that in the first part of 1986, Curtin made him stay back after class while the other boys went to lunch.
Alone in the classroom, the accused had said words to the effect of "I can help you."
Mr Bowers said the complainant would allege Curtin had pulled him towards him so he was sitting on his lap and started whispering and blowing into his ear.
"He will say he was scared and confused… and that the accused fondled his penis and testicles on the outside of his pants for perhaps one or three minutes," he said.
The boy felt uncomfortable and squirmed and had told Curtin to leave him alone.
Curtin then allegedly told the student to go to lunch.
The same complainant has also claimed that in 1986, while he was participating in a cadet ranking course, Curtin had come into the dormitory shower block while the boy was showering and stood and stared at his genitals "in a way that was very obvious".
"(The complainant) will say this made him feel very uncomfortable and he (the boy) turned away," Mr Bowers said.
The Crown prosecutor said this same person would allege that on a cadet course away from Goulburn in 1987, Curtin had looked at his genitals over the shower doors while the boy was showering. The boy had told him to "F--k off" and said, "You don't need to be here."
Mr Bowers told the court the complainant did not speak about the alleged incidents until 2015 when he saw a counsellor. He made a statement to police in July 2016.
A second person alleged that Curtin had taken photos of boys sliding around naked on their backsides after showering, while "urging them to continue".
This same complainant has alleged that, later in 1986, after dormitory lights had been turned out, Curtin went to his bed at night, put his hand through the boy’s boxer shorts and "pressed his hand into his groin next to his penis," Mr Bowers said.
I say from the outset the accused is not guilty of indecently assaulting these boys
- Greg Walsh - solicitor
He said the boy had not told anyone about the alleged incident until 2014 when he saw a counsellor. He made a statement to police in 2016.
Mr Bowers said a third complainant would tell the court that as a boarder he was very lonely, "often cried himself to sleep" and that Curtin would "often console him in the bathroom".
He alleged that one night Curtin came to his dormitory while he was sick in bed with a cold and other boys were downstairs watching TV. He had advised the boy that hair would grow on his body, put his hand through the boarder's pants and instructed him on how to pull back the foreskin of his penis to shower.
Detective Senior Constable Turner charged Curtin on two counts on February 6, 2017 following an investigation.
“If the jury is satisfied the accused has committed the alleged offences, it is the Crown’s argument that each act is indecent according to community standards,” Mr Bowers said.
The defence
But Curtin’s solicitor Greg Walsh reiterated the judge’s opening remarks about the jury’s responsibility to exercise “fairness, objectivity and to use commonsense”.
“The accused is a member of the Christian Brothers,” he said.
“You could be forgiven for thinking ‘he’s a Christian Brother, he has to be guilty’.”
But Mr Walsh said it would be “very wrong” for the jury to jump to this conclusion.
He told the court his client was a person of good character who had joined the Christian Brothers aged 18 and had never had any charges against him, except the current ones.
He had taught at various schools run by the order, including at Waverley, Edmund Rice College, Wollongong and at Lewisham. He was a teacher and Year 7 dormitory master at Saint Pat’s, Goulburn from 1982 to 1989.
At times he was supervising more than 40 boarders in the early morning and late afternoon.
“He was basically their parent and part of his role was to supervise the showers,” Mr Walsh said.
The showers were in open bays without doors. Mr Walsh said one of the complainants might not have had experience showering in this setting and could have misunderstood Curtin’s role.
Moreover, he said the jury would hear from another student, who was not a subject of the charges, that he recalled Curtin telling boys to stop when they occasionally “played up” in the showers.
“But he didn’t recall him ever having a camera in the showers,” Mr Walsh said.
Moreover, he said Detective Senior Constable Turner had been “basically forced” to go back and obtain a statement from this same student, which was supplied on January 21, 2019. The statement read that “the accused never did anything to me”.
Mr Walsh said these aspects presented a “pretty different picture” that the jury would have to consider.
“He (Curtin) didn’t take photos of boys in the shower or have a sexual interest in them. That’s his case,” Mr Walsh said.
In regard to another complainant’s evidence, Mr Walsh said his client never supervised cadets and was not a member. This was done by other ranking officers who were also Brothers.
In addition, he said Years 7, 8 and 9 did not participate in cadets. One of the complainants had said he was in one of these years at the time of the alleged indecent act.
Mr Walsh told the court he expected the defence and Crown to reach agreement on some of these matters.
“You will have to consider the life experience of the complainants, what was their motivation… and were they contacted by police,” he said to the jury.
Mr Walsh claimed a counsellor had contacted a Canberra lawyer who was running a class action against the Christian Brothers, on behalf of a complainant.
“The defence case emphatically is that the accused is not guilty,” he said.
The trial continues and is expected to last 10 days.
Curtin has been on bail since his arrest.
- If this article raises issues for you, Lifeline can be called on 13 11 14