No ‘hush money’ paid

Sydney
9 June 2002

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No ‘hush money’ paid – Dr Pell

By Kathleen Carmody

The 60 Minutes program Loss of Faith on Channel Nine crossed the line “between responsible and irresponsible reporting”, says the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr George Pell.

His interview with Rich ard Carleton was an ambush, he said.

Dr Pell was addressing allegations that he offered ‘hush money’ to a victim of clergy sexual abuse while he was auxiliary bishop of Melbourne in the early 1990s.

“I accept the media’s role in our society of agenda setting and pursuing stories of public interest,” he said.

“What I find unacceptable is 60 Minutes’ blatant misrepresentation of their intentions and the harmful and misleading way in which this story (was) promoted.”

Dr Pell said that the program’s producers had approached him on the pretext of discussing “matters arising out of the American cardinals’ meeting (about the issue of clergy sex abuse in the US) in Rome (and) the relevance of these issues for Australia”.

He said: “I believe that 60 Minutes deliberately obfuscated their intentions to help them manufacture a story reliant on misrepresentation and sensationalism rather than the truth,” the archbishop said.

“Trial by media can be a dangerous thing.”

The program aired allegations by David Ridsdale, the nephew of a convicted pedophile, Gerald Ridsdale, and a victim of his abuse, that when he contacted the then Bishop Pell to discuss the abuse, Dr Pell offered him money for his silence.

“I was so confused and agitated and depressed … I had to deal with this issue,” David Ridsdale told 60 Minutes. “I think my words (to Dr Pell) were ‘what internal processes does the Church have to help with situations like this’?”

He said Dr Pell’s reaction was totally unexpected. “He said: ‘I want to know what it would take to keep you quiet’.”

Dr Pell told 60 Minutes he remembered speaking to David Ridsdale a number of times about the abuse he suffered. But he had made no financial offers to him.

Apart from any other considerations, he would have lacked authority to do so as an auxiliary bishop.

Dr Pell reinforced this in a statutory declaration in which he said he recalled speaking to David but had never offered to provide David and his family with any financial assistance.

“I emphatically and totally deny that I made any attempt to buy David’s silence,” Dr Pell said. “The allegation that I attempted to silence a victim or to cover up allegations

is unfounded and untrue and is anathema to me.”

The suggestion was impl ausible, he said. “I had no authority to respond to any allegations against Ridsdale.”

Dr Pell said that the Church was aware of Gerald Risdsale’s crimes at the time he spoke with David.

And Gerald Ridsdale was already the subject of a police investigation. [He had been under investigation for several months, as part of the Victoria Police’s Operation Paradox; Dr Pell was aware of this.]

There was “no reason to believe that (Gerald) Ridsdale was innocent of the allegations”, Dr Pell said. “It was no state secret that he was in significant trouble,” he said, “but most of us – perhaps all of us – had no idea how extensive the trouble was.”

Archbishop Pell described David Ridsdale’s allegations as “inconsistent, discredited and wrong”. It has been revealed that in previous interviews David Ridsdale admitted to calling Operation Paradox – a police phone line on sexual abuse – in 1992, informing them of his uncle’s activities. However, he claimed on 60 Minutes that he went to the police only after speaking with Dr Pell in early 1993.

“He has never alleged that he spoke to me in August 1992,” said Dr Pell. “That he went to the police for the first time straight after he spoke to me cannot be reconciled with his other statements.”

He said he thought David Ridsdale received compensation in 1993 from the Ballarat diocese.

Archbishop Pell has rejected calls for his resignation. But, he said, he has nothing to hide. “The procedures I put in place are good procedures, they work well and I have conscientiously followed the procedures.”

They are comparable, he says, to Australian statutory criminal injur ies compensation schemes.

The TV program also alleged Dr Pell offered $50,000 to the family of two girls who were victims of abuse by another priest, Fr Kevin O’Donnell, to keep quiet.

Dr Pell agreed the family had been offered compensation and thought that there was a confidentiality clause attached. The girls’ parents did not accept the money, however, and were free to pursue the matter through the courts he said.

Dr Pell said the basis of the accusations against him – that payments to the family by the Independent Compensation Panel are ‘hush money’ – is without foundation.

He clarified his comments after the TV interview, stating that no confidentiality clause applied.

“When a person accepts compensation from the Melbourne arch diocese no confidentiality applies,” he said. “To suggest this is hush money is absurd.”

He described the interview as an ambush and said he had been unclear on the confidentiality requirements and “overstated these limitations”.

“A person who chooses to accept an ex-gratia compensation offer is required to sign a release. That document contains no confidentiality restrictions and anyone who accepts a compensation payment is free to disclose the details if they wish.”

He told 60 Minutes that during his time in Melbourne, 100 victims had been paid compensation and around 20 priests stood down.

The Prime Minister John Howard says he thinks Dr Pell responded “very powerfully” to the allegations made by 60 Minutes.