Bernard McGrath

Bernard Kevin McGrath (born 22 May 1947) is a New Zealand convicted child sex abuser and former member of the Catholic religious order the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God. He is considered to be the most notorious offender in the most notorious religious order in Australia. His victims include orphans, children with intellectual and physical disabilities and homeless children in Australia and New Zealand.

McGrath has been convicted of child sexual abuse on five occasions in Australia and New Zealand and is currently being held at the South Coast Correctional Centre, Nowra, New South Wales.

Early life and career Bernard McGrath was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He grew up with his parents, one brother and one sister. McGrath's father was a butcher but previously worked as a cleric and was determined his son would follow a life of service to the church. McGrath studied at Xavier College, Christchurch, and despite wanting to study veterinary science, six months after leaving school he joined the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God when he was 18 years old.

In 1967, he spent six months as a postulate studying and working at Kendall Grange, Morisset, New South Wales.

In early 1968, McGrath took his vows of poverty, obedience, chastity and hospitality. He remained at Kendall Grange until 1969.

McGrath told police that Moloney had threatened McGrath's progress in the order unless he acceded to sexual demands made of him. Sexual contact occurred between McGrath and Moloney.

In April 1977, Brother Brian O'Donnell approved Brother Moloney's nomination of Brother McGrath as sub-Prior of the Christchurch community.

In mid-1977, the provincial of the order, Brother Brain O'Donnell, received two written complaints about McGrath and Moloney offending against children. O'Donnell told police he considered the letters were "a malicious attempt to have the two brothers removed." O'Donnell said he destroyed the letters "because of the harm they could do."

On 3 September 1977, despite knowledge of this offending, O'Donnell transferred McGrath to Australia and later to Kendall Grange, another school for disadvantaged children.

Ten days later, Moloney was transferred to Rome, where he worked for a year as a pharmacist in the Vatican. O'Donnell travelled to Christchurch in October 1977 but made no attempt to investigate the allegations. O'Donnell wrote to Moloney and told him "after careful enquires into the allegations made...I am convinced they were completely unfounded."

Also in 1977, Brother Timothy Boxall received a phone call from a sister who worked at the nearby hospital saying McGrath was sexually abusing boys. Boxall alleges he passed on the allegation to Brother Brian O'Donnell.

Kendall Grange, New South Wales, Australia In 1981 McGrath became headmaster of Kendall Grange, a boarding school for boys aged between 8 and 15 who suffered from behavioural, emotional or intellectual problems. The brothers of the order ran the school with the assistance of lay staff.

Around 300 boys lived at the school, housed in dormitories. Between four and ten brothers resided at Kendall Grange at any one time and a brother was allocated to a dormitory or section and was directly responsible for the care and welfare of the boys under his supervision.

McGrath was in charge of red section and assumed the role of prior principal. He held this role between 1980 and 1986, which was the period that saw the majority of his offending. McGrath sexually abused scores of children at Kendall Grange, including Jason Van Dyke.

Hebron Trust, Christchurch, New Zealand

Despite knowledge of his sexual abuse of children at Marylands and Kendall Grange, in 1986, McGrath left Kendall Grange to establish Hebron Trust, a residential program in Christchurch for troubled teenagers and young adults. As the sole brother responsible for the operations of Hebron Trust, McGrath had direct contact with the District Police Commander's Office and Youth Aid.

In 1991, two social workers complained to the order's leadership that McGrath was making sexual advances towards four children in their care. When they received no response, they reported their suspicions to Christchurch police.

28 victims, most under 18 years old, reported to the Order that they had been abused by McGrath during their time at Hebron Trust.

Complaints

In 1992, Jason Van Dyke's mother, Janice, personally reported her son's sexual abuse by McGrath to Brother Joseph Smith. Smith admitted he had received another complaint about McGrath six months earlier but assured Janice "Don't worry, we are dealing with it."

In October 1993, former Marylands student Brian Uttinger reported that Brother Rodger Moloney had sexually abused him.

In December 1993, the mother of a boy who attended Marylands in the 1970s had written to Cardinal Thomas Williams, Archbishop of Wellington, saying that her son had been sexually assaulted throughout the entire two years he had been at the school.

Cardinal Williams passed this information on to the Bishop of Christchurch, Bishop Meeking, who asked Brother Joseph Smith to "write to the person concerned indicating you have received it from the Cardinal and that the matter is being dealt with."

In December 1999, another victim disclosed that Brother McGrath and Brother Moloney had sexually abused him at Marylands.

In December 2001, a survivor told Christchurch priest Father Paddy Cahill he had been sexually abused. Cahill met with Brother Burke to discuss the allegation.

Father Brian Lucas On 12 August 1992, Brother Joseph Smith advised Father Brian Lucas of the allegation against McGrath. Lucas advised Smith to tell McGrath that "Allegations have been made, you do not need to give me any details, there is an official protocol that is fair and just for everyone concerned...dangerous for B to return to NZ."

Smith dispatched Brother Julian to bring McGrath back to Sydney. Smith immediately placed McGrath in Burwood Psychiatric Hospital.

On 15 August, Smith brought McGrath to St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, where they met with Father Brian Lucas. At this time, Lucas led the Australian Catholic church's response to the emerging scandal of child sexual abuse by priests.

Smith's notes from the meeting say "B told his story and had confession with Fr. David. Brian Lucas suggested I go to lawyer by myself and retell story. B not up to it and requires treatment immediately."

As a civil lawyer, Lucas established the church's Special Issues Resources Group responsible for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse against clergy. Lucas gave evidence to the Royal Commission that his role was to help the bishop or major superior "manage the person making the complaint, see that their needs were met and get the offender out of the business".

Over the course of his career, Lucas met and interviewed over 30 abusive priests and religious, including Father Denis McAlinden, Father John Farrell, Father John Nestor and McGrath. Lucas took no notes of these meetings, despite the priests confessing to sexually abusing children in their care. He reported none of the offending to the police.

During the meeting at St Mary's Cathedral, McGrath confessed to Lucas that he had sexually abused children and there would be many more complaints. Despite this admission, neither Lucas or Smith reported McGrath to police. In 2019, Lucas acknowledged the meeting took place but said he was not obliged to report McGrath to the police. Lucas denied his failure to report the child sexual abuse to the police was a cover-up.

In 2006, McGrath was found guilty on 21 charges of child sexual abuse against nine victims aged between 7 and 15 years old. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. In 2008, as McGrath was released on parole, Brother Roger Moloney was sentenced to two years and nine months on seven counts of sexual abuse of children at Marylands.

Following the devastating Christchurch earthquake, McGrath moved to Ashburton and took on the role of care-taker for a 20-acre farm. He then set up a tea business and travelled to Sri Lanka.

In late 2010, Strike Force Lozano was established by NSW Police to investigate more allegations of child sex abuse at Kendall Grange. Detective Darren Webster led the investigation and by the end of 2011, had a significant brief on McGrath and Brother John Clegg. Other brothers who allegedly committed other offences at the school were deceased or deemed unfit to be tried. In 2012, McGrath was charged again in relation to the new Kendall Grange allegations.

In 2012, Interpol put out an extradition request for McGrath, who travelled from Sri Lanka to Christchurch. He appealed his extradition to Australia and continued to fight in the courts for two years. The New Zealand High Court finally dismissed the appeal and on 23 December 2014 he was extradited to Australia.

As McGrath arrived in Australia, Brother Rodger Mount was deported from Papua New Guinea. He was arrested by Australian police on arrival, facing charges from four victims.

On 16 May 2017, McGrath's fourth trial began in the District Court of New South Wales. He was arraigned before an expanded jury of 15 on an indictment containing 129 counts, principally of a sexual nature against 15 victims. Due to the high number of complainants, the trial was split into two.

On 16 February 2018, McGrath was sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment for 64 offences against 12 boys at Kendall Grange. The second trial began in 2019 and he was sentenced to a further 29 years' imprisonment for offences against 15 boys at Kendall Grange.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Sarah Huggett said that she had "no doubt at all that systemic abuse of children at Kendall Grange was taking place during the period of McGrath's offending". Hugget also said: "I found the offender to be a most unpersuasive, manipulative and unconvincing witness" and "not a witness of truth". She added: "The undeniable fact remains that this offender knowingly engaged in a deliberate course of prolonged and serious sexual abuse. He completely disregarded and exploited the powerlessness and vulnerability of his victims for his own motivations. He appreciated the wrongfulness of his conduct and on many occasions used techniques to secure a victim's silence. The offender as an educated adult must have appreciated the harm at least his more serious offences were causing. Yet he acted with complete disregard for those inevitable consequences...it must be remembered that he committed so many offences upon 12 victims over many years. He was a predator and there was no sign he was stopping as he moved from one victim to the next."

Cover-up The cover-up of McGrath's crimes began more than 20 years before he was finally arrested. In 1977, reports of McGrath's abuse of children reached Brother Brian O'Donnell, the head of the order in Sydney. At least one other brother, a teacher and several members of staff reported their concerns to O'Donnell.

Following a short internal investigation and despite serious allegations of child sexual abuse, O'Donnell transferred McGrath to Kendall Grange in New South Wales. Like Marylands, Kendall Grange was a school for disadvantaged boys. In 1980, McGrath became headmaster of the school and by his own admissions, his offending increased significantly.

When more allegations emerged in the early 1990s, the order's provincial, Brother Joseph Smith, followed Catholic Church protocol and took McGrath to meet Father Brian Lucas, a priest and civil lawyer. Lucas was head of the church's Special Issues Resource Group tasked with responding to the emerging scandal of child sex abuse by priests and brothers.

Lucas, Smith and McGrath met at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney and McGrath confessed to Lucas that he was an abuser. Following the meeting, Smith accompanied McGrath to the United States for treatment. Despite McGrath's confession, neither Lucas or Smith reported him to the police. Instead, McGrath was moved out of Australia in an attempt to avoid scandal.

McGrath's trials

Location Trial No. Year Conviction Sentence Ref. High Court of New Zealand, Christchurch 1 23 December 1993 Guilty – 10 offences of child sexual abuse against 6 boys at Marylands and Hebron Trust, Christchurch. 3 years imprisonment District Court of NSW, Australia 2 1997 Guilty – 6 offences of child sexual abuse against 6 boys at Kendall Grange, Morisset. 9 months imprisonment High Court of New Zealand, Christchurch 3 2006 Guilty – 21 offences of child sexual abuse against 9 boys at Marylands, Christchurch 5 years imprisonment One accuser, Donald Daniel Ku, would testify before the Commission in February 2022, claiming that McGrath sexually abused him in 1963 while he was a student Marylands School and also put him in a coffin containing a dead body. Other accusers who were former students at Marylands School would testify before the commission as well.

Police In December 2020, detectives Darren Webster and Scott Selkirk from Strike Force Lozano were awarded for their work on the McGrath case.

Revelation television documentary series In 2019, journalist Sarah Ferguson and producer Nial Fulton gained access to the NSW District Court to film McGrath's fifth trial as part of their ABC television series Revelation. They also negotiated access to interview McGrath in his maximum security prison in Cessnock, New South Wales. During his interview, McGrath admitted the order had covered up his sexual offending against children for decades and moved him to prevent scandal and police investigation. He said he understood both he and Roger Moloney were moved from Christchurch in 1977 because of their sexual offending against children.

McGrath told Ferguson he confessed his sexual abuse of children to Father Brian Lucas and Brother Joseph Smith in 1992 but neither reported it to the police. McGrath explained how Smith personally delivered him to a treatment centre in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, despite Smith being aware of at least four allegations of child sexual abuse against McGrath.

McGrath also alleged he had been sexually abused by two other brothers in the order and described a toxic culture of sexual abuse, concealment and fear.

Offenders from the St John of God order Of the 37 brothers who ministered in the Christchurch community, 21 had allegations of abuse made against them. Nineteen brothers had specific allegations of child sexual abuse made against them.

In addition to McGrath, other members of the St John of God order have been convicted of child sexual abuse. They include:

St John of God Paedophiles Name Religious Name Location of Offences Conviction Sentence Status Ref. Brother Roger William Moloney – Marylands, Christchurch, New Zealand Guilty: 7 offences against 5 children 2 Years, 9 months Imprisonment Deceased Brother Roger Melville Mount Gabriel Churinga, Victoria Guilty: 13 offences against 2 children 7 years, 10 months Prison Brother Daniel Slattery Daniel Kendall Grange, Morisset, New South Wales Guilty: 12 offences against 3 boys Awaiting sentencing Custody Brother Raymond John Garchow Richard Marylands, Christchurch, New Zealand 8 offences against children, St John of God substantiated Garchow's offending Deemed unfit to stand trial Deceased, 2011 Brother John Joseph Donnellan Bede Kendall Grange, Morisset, New South Wales 5 offences, St John of God substantiated Donnellan's offending Died before charges were laid Deceased