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ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Dark past catches up to father linked with son to alleged school paedophile ring
A man who was accused of involvement in a paedophile ring with his son at a Queensland Catholic boarding school has been jailed for unrelated child sex offences decades later. WARNING: This story contains references to sexual abuse that may cause distress. James Michael Crisp, the former "head of discipline" at St Teresa's College, was named in a secret church report to police flagging a suspected network of sex predators who worked at the school in the 1990s. This included his son, David Justin Crisp, 57, who spent more than three decades on the run from police before he was jailed in May. The report seen by the ABC reveals James Crisp was accused of preying on two of the same victims as his son — allegedly raping one so violently he inflicted injuries — but he was never charged. However, this month a dark past caught up with James Crisp. He was jailed for sex offences between 2009 and 2014 involving a young girl who cannot be identified for legal reasons. The 87-year-old was sentenced in the Maroochydore District Court to serve six months for rape, indecent treatment and maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child. Of seven men named in the 2023 "Connections at St Teresa's" report, James Crisp is the fourth to be convicted of child sex offences. But only his son is serving time for what happened at the school. Up to 14 boys have alleged they were sexually abused at St Teresa's between 1989 and 1998. The report raised "concerns regarding the possible connection of multiple alleged/potential perpetrators" who shared personal and professional histories, helped each other get jobs, and allegedly shared victims. They included the school principal who hired James and David Crisp. James Sampson Doran appeared to have a "close relationship with the Crisp family", according to an internal church review by barrister Kathleen Payne in 2016. He taught David Crisp in the 1980s at St John's College in Lismore, where Doran was a serial child sex predator. In 1989, he employed his former student at St Teresa's as a boarding master in charge of 40 students. The two men were "strongly suspected as having a sexual relationship whilst they both worked at [the school]", according to the church report. That relationship "assisted Crisp to carry out the sexual assaults" on students, one alleged victim said. Two sexual assault allegations in two years prompted David Crisp to resign. "Almost immediately following David Crisp's resignation amongst allegations of serious child sexual abuse … Jim Doran (as principal) wrote to Jim Crisp (David Crisp's father) offering him a position," according to the 2016 review. As senior boarding master and "school disciplinarian", James Crisp was "generally not liked", a colleague told police. "In fact some of the students hold a hatred for Jim Crisp," he said. One of those students was targeted for abuse by David Crisp on his return to the school in 1992. Doran's decision to rehire him as school safety officer was "extraordinary and indefensible", the 2016 review found. The victim's father went straight to police and David Crisp was suspended. When James Crisp resigned, Doran told James Crisp that he would "greatly miss your friendship, loyalty and Collegial advice". An arrest warrant loomed for David Crisp when his father informed church education officials in late 1993 that he had left Australia "on the advice of his barrister". James Crisp kept in touch with his son, who had travelled to the UK via Vanuatu, on a weekly basis, a former associate told the ABC. The first sexual abuse allegation levelled against both James and David Crisp emerged in 2008 from a prison cell. A former St Teresa's student serving time for attempted murder alleged both father and son had subjected him to "perverted and unthinkable acts". This included waking up at night to sexual abuse by David Crisp, and a sexually-charged assault by James Crisp who "strapped [him] on the bare buttocks". The former student said he drank and took drugs to try to get expelled "but Jim Doran wouldn't expel me". James Crisp forwarded a letter from the church containing the allegations to his son. However, the review does not say whether the church asked James Crisp to respond to allegations against him. The church paid the former student $85,000 to settle the matter in 2012, and reported it to police in 2016. Another former boarder alleged he was abused by all three predators: David and James Crisp, and Doran. His account included being "bent over naked by James Crisp in the office" and raped. "The alleged victim recalls how violently he was penetrated resulting in injuries," the church report said. He made no claim for redress but the church reported the matter to police in November 2022. Doran died in custody in 2018 while serving a 13-year sentence fo sex offences at other schools. James and David Crisp are both due for release from prison about the same time early next year. Jacqui Francis, the current chief executive of Townsville Catholic Education which runs St Teresa's College, has said its past handling of abuse allegations was "totally inadequate". "We acknowledge historical abuse and the pain and suffering that past students have been subjected to," she said. "No student or family should be subjected to this pain."
ABC News
16-05-2025
- ABC News
Church report revealed concerns about paedophile links at Queensland school
A report by Catholic church authorities raised concerns about the links between known paedophiles and their associates accused of historical child sex abuse at a rural Queensland boarding school. Warning: This story contains distressing content about The report, which was handed to Queensland police in 2022, detailed the connections between seven men who worked at St Teresa's College in Abergowrie, near Ingham, between 1989 and 2012. Three of them have since been convicted of child sex offences, including former school safety officer and boarding master David Justin Crisp, who was jailed this week after more than three decades on the run from police. Alastair McDougall, a former detective who issued the warrant for Crisp's arrest in 1993, said he had no inkling then that the case would lead to the exposure of a disturbing web of offenders at an "out of the way" school catering to vulnerable teenagers. "When you look at who was there at the time and what positions they held, and the allegations proven and unproven against them, those boys just didn't stand a chance," Mr McDougall said. Jacqui Francis, the current chief executive of Townsville Catholic Education which runs St Teresa's College, said its handling of allegations against Crisp between 1989 and 1993 was 'totally inadequate". "We acknowledge historical abuse and the pain and suffering that past students have been subjected to," she said. "No student or family should be subjected to this pain." The "Connections at St Teresa's College" report, seen by the ABC, shows the seven men shared personal and professional histories, helped each other get jobs, and some were accused of targeting the same victims. It reveals that five of the men have been accused of sexually abusing up to 14 boys at the school between 1989 and 1998, while the other two were accused or convicted of abusing children elsewhere. Some complaints emerged in recent years and were settled with church payouts of up to $70,000, according to church documents. But only one complaint from the school has resulted in a criminal conviction. Crisp, 57, was sentenced in the Townsville District Court on Wednesday to serve eight months in prison for indecent treatment of a boy in his care. Mr McDougall, who went on to work for some of Australia's top crime-fighting agencies, said it was his only "unresolved" case and he never expected Crisp to be caught. Crisp was 25 years old and facing charges of abusing three boys when he fled to the UK via Vanuatu and New Caledonia. He finally returned to Australia last year to care for his sick mother in Toowoomba, where police swooped in to arrest him after a tip from Crime Stoppers. "And I'm just really hopeful that that sense of closure is one that's also felt by the remaining complainant." Two alleged victims did not live to see Crisp face court and those charges were withdrawn. But their original statements were admitted as "tendency" evidence in the case and Crisp pleaded guilty, which spared surviving victim the distress of giving testimony in court. The victim was exposed to abuse after Crisp was allowed to return to the school despite allegations by the other two boys prompting him to resign in 1990. An internal investigation at the time found one boy had "mistaken a medical examination" by Crisp for sexual abuse, which a later church report found 'inherently' unlikely. The school priest Brooks Patterson told church officials he believed the other boy's account was truthful — but privately he told Crisp that "there are those of us who believe in you and will support you to the hilt". The decision by principal James Sampson Doran to rehire Crisp in 1992 was "extraordinary and indefensible", according to a 2016 internal report. When then Detective Senior Constable McDougall asked for files about earlier complaints against Crisp, he was told that "details of the previous incident would not assist" and a church investigation had resolved the matter. Mr McDougall said this was "completely incorrect". He said that given Crisp was welcomed back to the school by a "principal who was [later] a convicted paedophile… you have to say it was a cover up". The principal, Doran, died in 2018 while serving a 13-year sentence for child sex abuse. The 2022 church report highlighted close ties between Doran and Crisp, who was suspected of sexually abusing up to seven boys and harassing two others at St Teresa's. Three of them alleged they also were sexually abused by Doran. In one complaint referred to police in 2016, a former student alleged that Crisp "would masturbate over him and other students", while Doran allegedly abused him in so-called counselling sessions after plying him with alcohol "laced with drugs". The report says the two predators were "strongly suspected as having a sexual relationship whilst they both worked at [the school]". Crisp was a former student of Doran's at St John's College in Lismore, where Doran preyed on boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Crisp then worked at the school as a boarding supervisor alongside Doran, who gave him a glowing work reference. After Doran became principal of St Teresa's in 1989, he recruited both Crisp and his father as boarding masters. Church documents show Townsville Catholic Education officials knew Doran was accused of sexual misconduct in Lismore in 1983 but "noted [this] as having been dismissed". Doran was eventually jailed for his earlier offences — but he was never charged over his time at St Teresa's. A fourth former student accused Doran of sexual abuse in 2021. The church report a year later noted Doran had hired three other alleged paedophiles who had close associations with convicted child sex offenders who provided work references. The church referred one of these men to NSW police after an informant accused him of being a "notorious paedophile who fled from Sydney to North Queensland to avoid persecution". It said NSW police knew of no allegations against the man but urged the church to notify Queensland police given his "connection to Doran" through a Sydney boarding school in the 1970s. The report also named Raymond Frederick Ayles, an Anglican priest who was assigned to support non-Catholic students at St Teresa's in 1989. There were no complaints at the school about Ayles but he was later jailed for molesting boys in Adelaide in the 1970s. The church in August 2022 reported its findings on the "possible connection of multiple alleged/ potential offenders" to child protection police in Townsville, who "advised that they have generated an intelligence submission" to share with police interstate. Ms Francis said the Catholic church in Townsville was "committed to assisting investigations for victims to receive justice, healing and compensation". "We have welcomed and embedded legislative changes and prioritised student protection within our current system's policies and procedures," she said. "The safety of students is our number one priority and we have had a dedicated student protection team at Townsville Catholic Education since 2014." Mr McDougall said it was "pretty disappointing" the same information was not shared with police years earlier. He said it revealed a network of convicted and alleged offenders who had "assisted each other to find employment with each other, which has allowed them to cover up effectively any complaints that come forward". Mr McDougall said he thought it would "never have seen the light of day" without that first complaint to police by the teenager from St Teresa's.
