Brian McCoy SJ received Marilyn Warren's Victor Higgs Report 23 Dec. 2019
Ms. Warren says it is "highly desirable" and "reasonably expected" that the Society of Jesus investigate the other 21 instances between 1968 and 1971.
After that they can continue with the rest (approx. 35 of them).

AND: "there was a serious pattern of deviant criminal behaviour being perpetrated across the Society"

"the location of Higgs could have actually been part of a much larger and more challenging problem of where to locate not merely one but up to 22 problematic priests or brothers."

( May 2021. there is a whisper that the Consultative Panel is considering a response. )

A partial vindication of everything this website has been saying in the ♦ Cover Up Timeline.



The Jesuit's Document Destruction Policy
"The Australian Province supports the Royal Commission Recommendation 8.1 and already retains records relating to child sexual abuse as well as other records for longer periods than 45 years."

"All the archives are open and there are no secrets" Simon Davies.

Also interesting is the amount of information and the amount of detail the Society of Jesus was able to provide to the Warren Review.
This was provided to Ms. Warren simply because Brian McCoy SJ decided that he would. He was under no legal obligation to do so.
There was no withholding of information because of "privacy" which is the usual excuse for not disclosing information.

The deduction from this is that McCoy can disclose similar information about all and any alleged sex abusers IF HE WANTS TO.
There is no reason why he can't.

---

There is text and a video of a tired looking Brian McCoy s.j. summarising Marilyn Warren's findings on her Investigation into Victor Higgs ex-s.j. being moved from St. Ignatius, Adelaide to St. Ignatius, Riverview, Sydney in 1971/72
Brian McCoy s.j. says:
"It is with much sadness and contrition that I acknowledge and apologise for our failings with respect to these events some 50 years ago."

Previously McCoy said: "The records that are available have been reviewed in detail. To date, we have no evidence that Victor Higgs 'moves related to the events to which he subsequently pleaded guilty. However, we cannot discount this possibility."

Ms. Warren has been able to find information that McCoy was not able to. Exactly what we will never know.

"we are contacting all survivors who gave evidence to the review to seek their permission to release the report in its entirety."
This is a new proviso, previously they said it would be published with names redacted.

Why this is important:
1. It is the first ever admission that a Jesuit was deliberately moved from A to B because of sex abuse reports.
2. It is an admission that makes the Society of Jesus vicariously liable for negligence for offences by Higgs at Riverview.
3. By extrapolation it shows that the Jesuit Provincial was informed of the details of reports/complaints as a matter of policy
4. By implication it suggests that all other Provincials knew about complaints.
5. By implication it says that there is information about all the moves of sex offenders in the Jesuit's records.
6. Because of Brian McCoy's repeated statements "In the spirit of openness and transparency" he should inquire into ALL the moves of ALL alleged/known sex offenders.

Our efforts to get Ms. Warren to expand her inquiry failed.
McCoy says "We continue to hold those who have been abused in our hearts and in our prayers and extend to them our unwavering support. We are deeply ashamed and sorry."
If this is true he should do the same for all survivors of abuse at Jesuit schools.
Only you can open the door Brian - Will you?

What documents or information did Ms. Warren find?
Ms. Warren interviewed survivors of Higgs sex abuse at St. Ignatius , Adelaide.
She was able to request documents and information from the Society of Jesus.
She may have received unsolicited information from other sources as well.

I would say that information showing then Provincial Peter Kelly s.j. was informed of the abuse and that it was a factor in the decision to move Higgs could only have come from the Jesuit's own records.
If it was there how come Brian McCoy didn't find it earlier when he said all "available" files had been reviewed?
His original statement was such a lawyer written piece it did raise suspicions.
e.g. "we can't discount the possibility".

A while ago I was asked what do you think will be the outcome.
I said I think they will throw Peter Kelly under the bus and use it to say how wonderful and open and transparent they are as a smokescreen to wash away all the other questions about Peter Kelly's moves.

What I think I didn't realize is how McCoy seems to think that this "sin" by a Provincial is very serious in how it reflects on his Society.
The "Father Provincial" as they call him is actually a very highly revered person inside the Society of Jesus and should of course be the very best of everything they stand for.
Notwithstanding that 3 of them are alleged sex offenders and one was a drunk.


Dr. Paul Hine, Principal of St. Ignatius , Riverview, who was "too busy" to find me information on Theo Overberg SJ,says:
"That a member of the Province –against whom complaints were known at another school –was then consequently moved to St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, is profoundly shocking and a shameful indictment of how these matters were handled in the past"

Nice piece of "mock shock". It is always "I knew nothing" and now that I do I express shock and shame.
They all know about Jesuits being moved because of sex abuse.
A revolting piece of PR, he can't expect anyone to believe it surely.


"Oh, Yes, I'm the great pretender"
♦ Findings of the review into the movement of former Jesuit brother Victor Higgs jesuit.org.au
♦ youtube video link

♦ Riverview College letter to the Community

Brian McCoy s.j. says:
We received Justice Warren’s report on Friday afternoon and now share her conclusions:

1. At least three complaints were made to the then Rector, Fr Frank Wallace SJ, regarding Higgs’ conduct at Athelstone.
2. The substance of at least some of these complaints was conveyed to the then Provincial, Fr Francis Peter Kelly SJ, prior to Higgs’ movement.
3. The fact of these complaints was a factor in the decision to move Higgs from Athelstone to Riverview in 1970.

I thank those who gave evidence to the Review. I appreciate that going over these matters can itself be a traumatic experience.
I also thank the Honourable Justice Marilyn Warren AC QC and counsel assisting the Review for their expertise and commitment to helping us better understand what happened.
I hope these findings help bring those impacted by the actions of Higgs at both Athelstone and Riverview, and who have lived their lives in the shadow of the pain that it caused may, in some small way, come closer to healing and closure.

We continue to hold those who have been abused in our hearts and in our prayers and extend to them our unwavering support.
We are deeply ashamed and sorry.
In the spirit of openness and transparency we are contacting all survivors who gave evidence to the review to seek their permission to release the report in its entirety.
The abuse of any child is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the value and mission of the Jesuits.

The Jesuits and our Jesuit schools are united in our commitment to child safety and have implemented best practices to foster a child-safe culture to best protect those in our care.
These measures include initiatives to encourage and listen to student voices, treat any report of abuse seriously, believe those who come forward with reports of abuse and the introduction of a publicly available code of conduct clearly setting out required behaviours.

We will continue to review in detail Justice Warren’s report, the reasons for her findings and any actions that may need to be taken as a result and strive to ensure that our schools provide not only safe but nurturing environments for the children they serve.

Another summary:
Fr. Peter Kelly ex-s.j., alleged sex offender himself and a Provincial of the Society of Jesus deliberately moved an alleged sex offender from one school to another to to protect the reputation of the school and protect the reputation of the Society of Jesus.
And did this with no concern at all for the victims at the school and no concern at all for exposing the students at the new school to an alleged sex offender.
(this is not news, but it can now be stated without a denial from the Jesuits.)

Peter Kelly ex-s.j. also moved 10 other alleged Jesuit sex offenders during his tenure and also lay teacher Willi Kovac was sacked from Xavier College.
It could be safely assumed that he was given knowledge of any sex offences by those Jesuits as well. How many of those moves were also a result of a sex abuse report to him?

The great shame about all this is Ms. Warren not taking the opportunity to investigate other moves by Peter Kelly (and others).
I supplied detailed information about Peter Kelly to Nick Elias, her counsel assisting, in April this year.
I am concerned that Ms. Warren may not have received that information from Mr. Elias.
You can find the Kelly-Higgs move in here!!


Strange connection: Peter Kelly (deceased) is the uncle of Paul Kelly the famous singer/songwriter.

Peter Kelly ex-s.j. also fathered a son,David Weber, while a priest, after his term as Provincial.
David Weber lives in Germany and is still seeking some recognition and compensation/support from the Society of Jesus.

Something I hadn't considered is that the Jesuit's transparency is so perfectly transparent you can't actually see it.

Just these extracts are incredibly damning:
Paragraph 203
Mr Helman stated that it was not only Higgs who was abusing children at the time.
As said by Bishop O'Kelly, in his experience of the Consult it was the practice not
to minute the discussion of such topics but rather to mark the discussion of
sensitive topics with a line of dots in the formal minutes.

I consider there is a high likelihood that Fr Wallace discussed Higgs' behaviour
at some point at the Consult. Upon Fr Wallace doing so, the Provincial, Fr Kelly, would be informed.
Secondly, in light of the revelation by the Society to the Review of 21 cases of
sexual offending other than Higgs during 1968-71,
it is apparent there was a serious pattern of deviant criminal behaviour being perpetrated
across the Society such that the Consult,
including therefore Fr Wallace, would likely have discussed the pattern and how to manage it.

On the readily concluded assumption such discussion occurred at the Consult,
the location of Higgs could have actually been part of a much larger and more
challenging problem of where to locate not merely one but up to 22 problematic priests or brothers.

However, I am unable to make such a finding absent more information about the other 21 cases.

(markp Comment: The missing information is in the dots................................ )


220
Mr Richards (pseudonym) and his supporters submitted that sexual abuse of boys was widespread across the Society.

They also submitted that the Society had a disposition towards dealing with problematic priests
and brothers by moving them on to other schools where they reoffended.

They suggested Higgs’ case was consistent with that approach or practice.
I have not seen evidence to support such an assessment.
(markp Comment: again there is no evidence in the Jesuits' files because they didn't write it down, they used the dots!!)

222
It would appear from Dr Murphy’s voluntary work, and from the fact that 21 other instances
have been identified by the Society where complaints of sexual abuse occurring during
the period 1968-71 had been made by students in Jesuit schools,
that there are serious matters warranting resolution.

It may be reasonably expected that the Society is or will be conducting further
investigations into these matters. In my view, it is highly desirable that it do so.


223
the Review requested that the Society advise on the following:
1. How many individual Jesuits were the subject of complaint in the 21 other cases?

2. Of the 21 other cases, how many of these were the subject of
47 A submission to similar effect was also received from a survivor who had worked with Dr Murphy.
53 Independent Review – Victor Higgs
contemporaneous complaints, and, how were the complaints in those cases dealt with by the Society?

3. Were any contemporaneous records or documents created in 1968 – 1971 relating to the 21 other cases?

4. Has the Society explored whether persons the subject of those complaints were moved frequently or at unusual times in the year, and if so, how those moves were explained?

5. Did then Provincial Kelly know about any of the 21 other cases during his time as Provincial? If he knew, how did he respond?

6. In 1968 – 1971, was there any awareness that sexual impropriety by Jesuits in relation to students was a problem? If so, what guidance (if any), formal or informal, was provided by the Society to Jesuit Colleges as to how it was to be dealt with?

7. If there was no awareness or consistent practice of dealing with such complaints in 1968 - 1971, when did an awareness of the problem emerge?

8. Was moving a Jesuit the subject of a complaint to another place one of the ways that such problems were addressed in 1968 – 1971?

9. Are there other aspects of the way these cases were dealt with that may assist the Inquiry in understanding the Society’s response to the Higgs complaints?


224

The Society responded to that request on 11 December 2019 and indicated that:

The Society of Jesus' (Society) ability to respond to much of your letter is limited
by the effluxion of time of (at a minimum 48 years), the unavailability of witnesses
(so many individuals are deceased and, particularly, Provincial Kelly who has been deceased since 2004)
and the absence of documentation (we address below that certain school records are no longer in existence).

As you are aware, the Society has caused extensive searches to be undertaken for
records and all available records have been provided to the Inquiry.

The Society is not aware of any other records that would be relevant in either a
positive or negative way and, as such,
there is no additional information that can be
provided that would be of assistance to the Inquiry for the purpose of understanding the
Society's response to any complaints that may have been made against Victor Higgs and/or other Jesuits in the period 1968 to 1971.

Of the 21 other cases of complaints of sexual impropriety referred to in our letter dated 14 October 2019,
the earliest complaint was made in 1996 and 18 were made since 2003....
We also note that 14 of those complaints relate to schools in Victoria.

The Society has made further inquiries with Xavier's archivist who has confirmed
that there are no records relating to any students prior to 1980
(other than being able to confirm a student attended the School)
as they were all destroyed for the purpose of saving space.
The Society also notes that Xavier did not employ an archivist until 2014.

Rev Fr Des Purcell SJ was Victor Higgs' spiritual father for many years.
He was unavailable for interview because of Alzheimers disease.

Sergeant Schulze from Hogan's Heros visits Athelstone.
Fr Dwyer, who was a scholastic at the school in 1969 and 1970 could not recall anything about Higgs’ departure.
Mr Liddy had no recollection of Higgs being moved.
Mr Donnelly could not recall Higgs leaving the school.
Bishop O’Kelly said he did not and could not recall having any conversations with Higgs about his move to Riverview either at the time or subsequently.
Former students:
"Mr Helman" he did not remember any talk or announcement in relation to the departure.
"Mr Miller" recalled that Higgs "just disappeared".

28 November 2018
Simon Davies calls CE (1811002 CE), an Adelaide survivor.
The case diary states:[CE] advised [redacted] had reported the abuse to [redacted] parents.
At time, [redacted], a family friend was present at the home and told the [redacted]
that [redacted] would take the issue up with the Principal, Fr Wallace SJ.
A short time later, Higgs was removed from the school.
[Redacted] acknowledged this may have occurred at the end of the school year but would make more enquiries with his brother.
(Chronology page 16)

Brian McCoy SJ said: "the files that are available have been reviewed."

17 December 2018 Media release announcing Warren/Higgs Inquiry.


14 February 1990
Philip Wallbridge writes to Peter Steele SJ, stating:
You may recall that 2 years ago Xavier instituted a scholarshipfor four (4) Yr. 10 boys
to spend a term at the aboriginal school in Broome, W.A.
[...]Chris Gleeson rang this morning to get our thoughts on Vic Higgs accompanying the boys this year.


22 February 1990
Chris Gleeson (Xavier Headmaster), writes to the Provincial of the time (Peter Steele SJ) ,
stating:This is to confirm that Br. Vic Higgs will be accompanying four of
our Year 10 boys to Nulungu Catholic College in Broome for the duration of Term 2, 1990.

4 November 1990
Higgs writes to Peter [principal of Xavier?], stating:
"... My major disappointment in life so far was my removal from Riverview because of my drinking."

1991
Throughout 1991 there is correspondence regarding Higgs’ drinking habits.
For example, on 22 April 1991, Philip Wallbridge SJ (at hawthorn HQ) writes a memo to Provincial Bill Uren SJ ,
stating: Noel Bradford SJ (at Riverview) was on the phone today.
He wanted to discuss Vic and his drinking habits.
Apparently Vic is drinking during the day and it seems he is not attending A.A meetings.
His behaviour (? the drinking and/or the sex assaults?) in the short time he was at Riverview before going to Mt. Druitt was also brought to my attention.


Victor Higgs chronology:
14 August 1963 Victor Higgs (Higgs) enters the Society of Jesus (Society).
15 August 1965 Higgs takes his first vows in the Society
1966 –1967 Higgs works at Loyola College, Watsonia. His roles include 'assistant manuductor, dispensary, buyer, care of chooks, housework'.

1968 –1970: Higgs teaches at St Ignatius College, Athelstone
1971 –1981: Higgs teaches at St Ignatius College,Riverview
1982: Higgs works at Campion College
1983: Higgs works at St Albans, Victoria
1984–1985: Higgs works at the Jesuit Theological College (JTC), Parkville
1986 –1990: Higgs teaches at Xavier College, Melbourne


Year 2000 the first known formal complaint to the Society of Jesus.
Mr Mercer found the complainant to be credible and so advised Fr Daven Day SJ.
April 2001 Higgs acknowledged the truth of the allegations.
Higgs discussed his decision to leave the Jesuits with his spiritual father, Rev Fr Des Purcell SJ and Rev Fr Michael Ryan SJ.
The Province Consult believed that there were insufficient reasons for Higgs to leave.


He also stated that he had been through "another process" many years ago which related to the events of which he had recently been accused.
According to VH they were investigated by his Rector Frank Wallace SJ in 1968.

11. On 5 May 2001, Higgs wrote to you and in that letter stated,
"My main regret is that I was forced to admit to the guilt of an action for which I have no recollection.
I went through another process many years ago concerning the events of which I've now been accused.
That process didn't adopt as a starting point that I was guilty of some inappropriate action."

Did you ever ask Higgs about what occurred as part of that process or its result?
Daven Day said there was no other process.

Higgs formally left the Society on 18 October 2001.
A complaint regarding Higgs was first made to police in South Australia in early 2012 and an investigation commenced.

Notes:
[1] Jemez Springs - Pedophile priests and Servants of the Paraclete

♦ The Australian Newspaper article
by John Ferguson . Associate editor.

Sex-offence allegations against 21 Jesuit priests and lay staff have been unearthed in an
independent review into the society’s ­duplicitous handling of serial pedophile and former brother Victor Higgs.

Former Victorian Supreme Court chief justice Marilyn ­Warren said the 21 other offenders
were accused of misconduct between 1968 and 1971, with Higgs transferred to
Sydney’s St Ignatius at Riverview from Adelaide’s St Ignatius at Athelstone in 1970.

It is the first time the extent of offending across the order in the late 1960s and early 70s
had been made public and was cited by Ms Warren as relevant to the society’s decision-making when dealing with Higgs.



Higgs, now in his 80s and in jail, was sent from Adelaide to Sydney despite the order’s
hierarchy knowing that he had ­assaulted children at the Athelstone campus.

Ms Warren’s review into Higgs has revealed an extraordinary lack of documentation previously
kept by the order in Australia, including three of its marquee schools —
Riverview, Xavier College in Melbourne and St Ignatius in Adelaide.

She found that at least three complaints about Higgs’s behaviour were made to
St Ignatius’s then Athelstone rector, the late Father Frank Wallace,
before Higgs was shifted to Sydney in a state of internal disgrace.


Ms Warren found that the order’s then provincial, the late Father Francis Kelly,
knew that Higgs had offended against children at the Adelaide campus.

Despite these complaints, Higgs was moved to Sydney,
where his offending intensified while working at Riverview’s boarding school.

The current-day Society of Jesus provincial, Father Brian McCoy,
told The Australian that anyone with complaints about wrongdoing should approach the order,
stressing it had been a lamentable chapter in its history.


“Certainly we would want people to come forward and feel free to come forward,’’ he told The Australian.

The full report of Ms Warren’s review was sent to survivors of Higgs at the weekend
and comes after relentless debate about what the order knew, and when, about his depraved ways.

Higgs was an overweight ­alcoholic who preyed on dozens of children in Adelaide and Sydney,
despite authorities being told very early that he was an offender.
He has been convicted in both states off multiple offences.


Higgs also worked at Xavier College in Melbourne and St Aloysius in Sydney.

Victims said Higgs was a ­voyeur who also touched them on their genitalia in the
guise of monitoring their sexual development. He picked on sexually underdeveloped children.

In conducting the inquiry, Ms Warren has exposed a culture where the order in the
late 1960s would deliberately leave out of meeting minutes discussion about pedophiles.



“In my view, the fact of these complaints was a factor in the ­decision to move Higgs f
rom Athelstone to Riverview in 1970,’’ she found. She wrote to the society
in December seeking more documents and answers in relation to the 21 other accused.

The first of the allegations ­relating to the 21 did not surface until decades
after the offences occurred and not all allegations were substantiated or referred to police,
sometimes because the ­accuser did not want to progress through the courts.


Only two of the 21 accused are still with the order, one having been exonerated and the other is on restricted duties.

Regarding Higgs, Father McCoy said: “I need to apologise. … We dropped the ball and people got hurt and they’ve carried the burden.

We let people down. And, yes, we failed to keep records and I think that some of the Jesuits and others didn’t think it was as serious as it was.’’


Higgs pleaded guilty in 2016 to two counts of indecent assault at St Ignatius in Adelaide and
was sentenced to 2½ years’ jail for ­offences between 1968 and 1970. In 2018, he was found
guilty of 16 counts of indecent assault at Riverview against six boys.


The Warren review was set up by the Jesuits to determine what the order knew and when about Higgs.
Father Wallace, now dead, was the principal at the school and the review found he had been told at least three times that Higgs was an offender.

Bishop Greg O’Kelly was at Athlestone, as a scholastic, and denied knowing about Higgs’s ­activities,
despite the disgraced former brother being widely lampooned by students at the time.


Ms Warren did not find against Bishop O’Kelly, although he did concede he had heard
­rumours about Higgs many years after the bishop was moved to Riverview in 1982.
This was after Higgs was moved from Riverview.

“I might have heard it ­(rumours of voyeurism) once or twice,
then in a way I thought it was an issue that was dead and gone because he had been moved out of a boarding school,’’ Bishop O’Kelly told the review.


The review heard that a meeting 50 years ago of the order’s consultors would not record
evidence of pedophiles within their midst. Instead, these matters were recorded simply as dots.

There were no headmaster’s diaries held by St Ignatius in ­Adelaide from 1968-1971 and all the Jesuit consultors of that era are dead.


The Warren inquiry was ­conducted, in effect, as a full ­judicial review of Higgs’s movement by the order, minus coercive powers.

The current-day Jesuits have been hamstrung by a lack of records and the death or sickness of most involved.


Ms Warren said that understanding the way the order had handled the other allegations might help instruct her investigations into Higgs.

Michael Advocate, who uses a pseudonym, is a high-profile critic of the Catholic Church’s handling of the abuse scandal.

He told The Australian that the church would never rise above its past.

“It’s totally impossible for the Catholic Church to recover any relevance or self-worth,’’ he said.