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[Music] just the warning today's episode deals with child sex abuse it will not be
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suitable for all business father John Day was a Catholic priest who graduated from Corpus Christi
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College in Melbourne 1927 Corpus Christi is one of Australia's leading priesthood
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training colleges day was given his first parish in 1936 at Kolak about 150 kilometers southwest of Melbourne he
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spent three years there before being transferred north to Ararat which is a two-hour drive away he spent nine years
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there before being transferred to Horsham a further ella north after two years at Horsham they found himself
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heading back south to beech forest where he spent two years from there he went to
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a Palo Bay a coastal town in southern Victoria it was during his two years of apollo bay that dave first met police
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officer Dennis Rowan Dennis Ryan joined the Victorian police force in 1952 he had a strong Catholic faith and was a
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regular churchgoer with his family out of the Academy he was sent to Russell Street Police Headquarters where he did
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various duties and learnt the ropes of policing all new recruits were sent to Russell Street at that time after
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finishing up at Russell Street Dennis cut his teeth working on patrolling st. kilda only eight
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kilometers outside of Melbourne central business district it was 1956 Dennis had
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been a police officer for four years father John day had been a Catholic priest for twenty 90s day was in charge
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of the Apollo Bay parish but had found his way into st. kilda for the night about a two hour and 40 minute drive
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away from home [Music] in 1956 st. kilda was known as the red-light district around Melbourne all
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sorts of colorful characters could be found wandering the streets especially late at night it was just after 1:00
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a.m. and Dennis Ryan was working a patrol car he was with two more experienced officers at the time one of
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those senior officers was Tom Jenkins a war veteran and foreign police officer who Dennis had a deep respect for they
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noticed the new expensive looking car driving down the streets of st. kilda but something didn't fit they recognized
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the driver she was a well-known sex worker in the area and they knew she didn't own a car so what was she doing
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driving this expensive new car at one o'clock in the morning they pulled her over and as they approached the vehicle
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they saw she wasn't alone another well-known female sex worker was in the car with her as they got closer still
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they realized the two girls weren't alone the car had a bench seat and lying with his head in one girl's lap and his
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feet across the other girls lap was a man his pants and underwear were down around his ankles he was blind drunk
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with an empty bottle of booze in his hand and he could barely string two words together generally this wouldn't
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have been an unusual sight in the streets of st. kilda at the time certainly nothing the police hadn't seen
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before at least it wouldn't have been unusual if the man wasn't wearing the black shirt and white clerical collar of
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a priest Denis asked the girls what was going on they replied he's a regular he lets us
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drive his car around the two girls were told to take off one of the officers dragged the priests vehicle back to the
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station while the others followed behind in a police car the priest was father John day at the time working at the
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Apollo Bay parish 200 kilometres away they helped father day inside the station and called st. Patrick's
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Cathedral in East Melbourne the officers explained the situation at the time this
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was a criminal offence Denis was shocked at what he was seeing as a devout Catholic he was appalled at
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the behavior of day to young uncomfortable-looking priests from st. Patrick's Cathedral arrived at the
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station 20 minutes later the senior officers gave day a stern warning that if he was caught in a situation like
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that again he would be arrested and charged but for now he was free to go Denis Ryan openly questioned why day had
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been led off so easily one of the senior officers told him I've been around this
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force long enough to know that we don't charge priests short of a murder blue Denis was told he would be best to
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forget what he had seen just let it go even if they had charged the priest it would have never made it to court
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they say dawei a dentist for weeks he was very uncomfortable with what had happened just because days a priest why
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should he get a free pass he should be held to a higher moral standard Denis couldn't shake it and decided to have
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another chat to Tom Jenkins the senior officer he was working with on the night Denis asked Tom tell me what's the drill
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when we lock up priests Tom required somewhat chillingly quote we don't lock them up we let them go
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once you've been around for a while you'll start to learn the Catholic Church carries a good deal more clout
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than a local church on the corner it's a political organization it has wrapped itself around every layer of government
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this happens everywhere all across Australia and probably all over the world but nowhere does the Catholic
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Church have more power than it does the Victorian police force short of a murder
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Blue Hill walk every time nothing would happen today this goes all the way to the top it's not just the police it's
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the judges lawyers the politicians I don't agree with it but there are forces at work here that are stronger than you
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and me I learned early on in the job don't pick fights you can't win keep in mind this is the 1950s religion had a
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far greater influence on society than it does today the police force was no different the Victorian police force
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even had unofficial divisions based on your faith there were strong Catholic sections of the force but also
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Protestants and Freemasons had a strong representation at the time as well your religion or beliefs or membership
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of certain groups could dictate what sections you could work in there were some squads that were Catholic only some
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squads were for Freemasons only and so on you would naturally gravitate towards those sections and officers who shared
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your beliefs of course this was an exclusive to the Victorian police force this was just society at the time it was
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happening everywhere all across the country not everybody was religious or a freemason there was still a healthy
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percentage of atheists and people who held other beliefs outside of mainstream religions but those mainstream religions
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had a far stronger hold on people at the time after his encounter with father day
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on the streets of st. kilda Denis Ryan passed the detective exam Denis worked in the detectives office in the Russell
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Street headquarters and it Franck's them before transferring to Morlock in 1958 about a 45-minute drive
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from melbourne dennis was a hard worker and a good detective that was well known
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he was a devout Catholic and it was because of his strong Catholic beliefs he was made the following offer dennis
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was out enjoying beers with his fellow detectives one afternoon when Detective Sergeant Fred Russell pulled him aside
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Fred said to Dennis quote what I'm about to tell you is in the strictest confidence I don't know if you know this
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but there is a group of us who at the request of the Cathedral look into instances where priests have been
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charged with offences to see we can have these matters dropped or dismissed so the church is good name will not be born
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into disrepute we know your strong belief we'd like to invite you to join us a group of police keeping a lookout
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for and protecting priests the Catholic mafia Dennis immediately thought back to
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the incident with father day and assumed those were the sorts of things fred was
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talking about minor matters drink-driving and other traffic related stuff being caught with sex workers that
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sort of thing nothing major but still the sort of behavior that could bring embarrassment to the church
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Dennis was never comfortable with letting day off so easily and he wasn't about to join a group that looked out
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for other priests who found themselves in trouble Dennis said no he wasn't interested in joining the Catholic mafia
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Russell never mentioned the names of anyone else involved and Dennis didn't think too much more of it in 1962
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Dennis's son Michael had a severe asthma attack causing him to stop breathing indigo blue in the face a doctor was
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called who had to give Michael a shot of adrenaline to bring him back not a lot was known about asthma at the time and
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the doctor said the main thing he could recommend would be to move Michael into a drier warmer climate
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Denis initially considered moving to Queensland however when he superiors loaned what was going on they told him
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not to go they wanted him to remain with the Victorian police he was offered a Detective position at Mildura Mildura
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was right on the border of New South Wales in Northwest Victoria it was about as far as it could go without leading
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mistake 540 kilometers or 335 miles away from Melbourne and it would provide the
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dry warm climate that Michael required for his asthma there was a country posting a regional city with a
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population of about 27,000 people at the time Denis accepted the position and moved his family to Northwest the
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country Victoria on his first day at Mildura Denis met with the officer in charge of the detectives office
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Detective Sergeant Jim Barrett Jim was eager to give Denis the guided tour of the town their first stop a meet and
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greet with a local parish priest Denis thought this was a bit unusual for a police to her at the town but being a
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devout Catholic he wanted to check out the church and make the priest anyway imagine he surprised when he was
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introduced to father John de Denis recognized him instantly from the st. Kilda incident six years earlier they
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had been transferred from the Apollo Bay parish to the Mildura parish the year after that incident in 1957 the meeting
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was friendly enough and Dennis didn't mention anything today they didn't seem to recognize denisita which was no
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surprise given how drunk he was when they met previously as they were driving away from the meeting Dennis said the
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gym that day had some unusual habits for a priest he then filled him in about the
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incident from 6 years old Jim Barrett didn't have the reaction Dennis was expecting he snapped yelling you don't
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know what you're talking about get your facts right before you open your gob Dennis didn't back dinner he had his
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facts right he had seen it with his own eyes after a bit of back and forth the guided tour came to an early end Jim
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drove Dennis back to the station in silence there was a bit more back and forth between them in the office for the
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rest of the day clearly Detective Sergeant Jim Barrett was a staunch defender of the local
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priest the next day Denis received a phone call from father day who requested that he pay him a visit
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Denis agreed and drove over to meet with him dave was angry he yelled you need to get
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your facts straight you don't know what you're talking about that wasn't me there was another priest
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named John day he was also in Apollo Bay I've never been to the place after a bit
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of back and forth between them they said get out of my sight don't you spread malicious rumors about me
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get out Dennis returned to the station and was met by another barrage of abuse from Jim Barrett it was an interesting
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start to his time at Mildura Dennis learnt very early that Barrett and day were more than just friends the way Jim
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had reacted and immediately jumped to the defense of day there seemed to be something else going on but he wasn't
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quite sure what Denis Rowland kept up his regular visits to the church with his family he sat
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back almost in amusement as he listened to father day talk about the church's strong position on virginity celibacy
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and morality he would drone on about the degrading and unchristian practice of girls wearing bikinis and the declining
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moral standards of society with girls getting around in miniskirts all Denis could see was a two-faced hypocrite if
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only his fellow churchgoers knew about that incident in st. kilda the deep bond shared by father day in Detective
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Sergeant Jim Barrett only became clearer to Denis as the years went on Denis formed the view that Barrett was a
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right-hand man today the two of them also shared a close relationship with another man
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Joe Cooney Kearney was the clerk of a local court in Mildura no big deal in a major city like Melbourne but in a small
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country town like Mildura he had much more authority there was no permanent judge in town the judge worked a large
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district what was called a circuit which covered a large area and a lot of different towns the judge would travel
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around and sit at the different courts as he was required when there was no judge in town which was most of the time
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Joe Kearney was the most senior official of the court they Barrett and Kearney were extremely close regularly meeting
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up to have dinner always having meetings together as well as his role of clerk at
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the court Kearney was also treasurer of the Mildura Catholic parish funds meaning he was in charge of funds paid
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by the government for the admin and maintenance of Catholic schools in the parish in Mildura the Catholic schools
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were Sacred Heart primary and Sen Joseph high so Kearney was in charge of a lot of money that had to cover teachers
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salaries building maintenance curriculum expenses and everything else required to
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run a school Barrett was in charge of the collection plate from behalf of father day he used to like standing over
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the parishioners demanding more money they needed it the church needed give more Denis
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couldn't work out what day was constantly crying poor and demanding more money from these people he always
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drove a new expensive looking car he had a taste for foreign ones and flush votes
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the church was always immaculately decorated he didn't seem to be doing too badly it was all very suspicious to
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Denis but he just stayed out of it he didn't want anything to do with day Barret or Kearney he wasn't going to let
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em affect his faith Denis never rated Barret as a detective all he liked to do was pick on kids and arrest drunks
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serious crime was out of his depth Denis was especially disgusted when he learned
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that father day would let Barret know about the secret shared him in the confessional box school kids would come
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in and confess to mischief they got up to maybe stealing a candy bar from the local store or breaking into the canteen
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and stealing soft drinks next thing the kids knew Jim Barrett was knocking on their door and dragging them into the
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police station for an interview day completely breached the kids trust a disgusted Dennis and he hated Baron
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hated his aggressive controlling behavior and his deep connection today he sensed something wasn't right and he
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decided to start digging Barrett was very secretive of the contents of his drawer he had his own
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office which he would often keep locked but if his office was unlocked then one thing was for sure the top drawer of his
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desk would be Barrett kept the key like his life depended on it Dennis and another detective often wondered what
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Barrett was keeping in there one day they found out they were able to break into the drawer by getting a second key
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cut using a unique code found on the lock as they opened it they were met by some insignificant paperwork but it was
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underneath that where they found five black-and-white photographs the photos were of girls aged about eight to ten
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years old all standing naked with glum expressions on their faces Dennis initially thought that these
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might be evidence from a case but the more he thought about it the more that didn't make sense if the photos were
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evidence they would have been entered into the evidence book and stored in a property room they quickly put the
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photos back and lock the drawer Dennis knew Jim Barrett was odd and was very close to father day but what was he
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doing with these photos he kept the information close he couldn't do anything about it for now
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he had illegally broken into Barrett's drawer not only that Barrett could easily make up some [ __ ] about them
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being linked to a case even if they weren't Barrett could have back dated an entry in the evidence book and say they
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weren't stored in the property room dude at their sensitive nature all that would
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achieve would be to get Dennis into some serious trouble Dennis decided to wait and dig a little
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further he knew something else about Barrett he always took courage of sex offense cases involving young girls all
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the uniformed officers and fellow detectives knew that any case such as that went straight to Barrett he always
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interviewed the girls alone with his office door locked still it wasn't enough to prove anything
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Dennis may have had a clearer picture if he had been made aware of the complaint
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made to sergeant Michael O'Donnell O'Donnell was a patrol officer who had transferred to Mildura not long after
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Dennis O'Donnell received a complaint from a parent one afternoon a young boy still at Sacred Heart primary school had
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come home and told his dad that father day had pinned him down and fondled his penis
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O'Donnell took the complaint straight to the detectives Dennis wasn't in his office so he didn't hear about it
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another detective told O'Donnell that this wasn't the first complaint that had been made about de but they couldn't do
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anything with it all complaints involving day had to go to Detective Sergeant Jim Barrett no exceptions
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they Donnell didn't see a problem with that and made sense Barrett was the head detective and this was a serious
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complaint O'Donnell forwarded the information on to Barrett for follow-up a week or so later
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O'Donnell hadn't heard anything from Barrett about what was happening and Barrett wasn't the most friendly or
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approachable person so a Donnell decided to pay the boy and his dad a visit to see what was happening
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O'Donnell was told by the boy's dad that there was nothing happening Jim Barrett
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had paid them a visit and talked them into withdrawing the complaint Barrett described the scandal and shame that
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would come to their family if they went ahead with it the boy had made a serious allegation
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against a good man and a fine priest and to the Catholic Church would not take such a complaint and lying down the dad
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explained to our Donnell that he felt he had no choice but to withdraw as Barrett
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didn't believe this wasn't the first visit Jim Barrett had made to a parent of a child who had made a complaint
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about father day and the result of these visits always went the same way complained withdrawn
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Denis Ryan wasn't made aware of this particular incident until many many years later Denis was able to connect a
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little more information when the circuit judge in the area paid him a visit one day the judge was Joe Hayes Denis had
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gotten to know him well over the years from different cases he had taken to Mildura
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Court Denis Aziz picked up when Judge Hayes came to his house for dinner one night and said this quote I'm rather
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concerned about Jim and the way he takes statements from young girls on carnal knowledge and other sex offenses the
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statements are unnecessarily explicit Dennis told judge Hayes about Barrett's instructions that he be given all cases
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of that nature he also told him about the photos he had found in his drawer judge Hayes wasn't surprised
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and he told Denis to keep a close eye when his superior meanwhile Jim Barrett continued harassing drunks and kids he
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even arrested the president of the organizing committee for the local kindergarten for holding a fundraising
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raffle without a license Denis could only shake his head it was common knowledge around Mildura that
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father day often took children away on weekend trips he liked driving kids down to Melbourne on what was a long road
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trip it would take kids to see musicals or the cricket or Rosie rules football matches the community was full of praise
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for the priest what a man to devote so much time to the children father day also taught at the Sacred Heart primary
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school he was in charge of physical education dave also was the one who chose the Alpha boys for the church he
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would pick 8 to 10 boys a year the altar boys would lay out prayer books light candles and generally helped prepare for
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mass and Holy Communion they also put them to work doing other jobs around the church grounds and his residence like
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washing his car the altar boys would be alone at the church under days care for hours and
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hours at a time he was a pillar of the community with a great reputation no one was trusted and respected more
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than father day on a Wednesday morning in 1971 dennis received a phone call from John Hayden the head teacher at San
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Joseph's high school John was a well-respected teacher with an excellent reputation john requested
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dennis go unseen at school there was an important matter that he wanted to discuss with him before hanging up john
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was very clear with Dennis do not let Jim Barrett know he had called when Dennis arrived at the school
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John came straight out with it the mother of one of our students has made a complaint that father day has indecently
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assaulted her daughter on a number of occasions he went on to say that he feared if Jim Barrett became aware of
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the complaint then it would go nowhere due to his close association with day Dennis immediately arranged to meet with
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the girl and her mother and take statements the girl was only 12 years old and had been assaulted on five
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separate occasions by father day after he had finished taking a statement the girl provided Dennis with the name of
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another girl who she knew day had forced himself upon Dennis visited with this girl as well she also agreed to provide
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a statement her assault happened in the car in the presence of two nuns and three other students they was taking
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them away on a trip to Melbourne to see a musical he made the girl sit next to him in the car and placed her head in
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his lap both girls were students of Sacred Heart primary school these statements were start but they wouldn't
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be enough Dennis needed more evidence against day so he started digging and it didn't take much digging to uncover the
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names of more victims then it's met with a man named Kim who is now in his 20s married with kids of
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his own Kim's name had been provided to Dennis discreetly by a friend when the friend learned that Dennis was looking
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in today Kim gave a statement to Dennis about his time at Sacred Heart primary school he had been an altar boy for
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day-day had only just arrived at the parish Kim was 11 years old when he was attacked the first attack also occurred
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in a car dey was driving with his penis exposed and he made Kim touch it later that night
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Dame Kim stayed in the same bed Kim was woken up in the middle of the night by day trying to have sex with him Kim was
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being cared for by two auntie's at the time both were fanatical churchgoers and worship today after the first attack Kim
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said he wasn't going away with day anymore but his auntie's were having none of it
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they gave they permission to take him away a total of five times numerous sexual and indecent assaults were
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committed on Kim during those trips he gave Dennis a signed statement Dennis expressed the Kim that this had
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to be kept very quiet if Detective Sergeant Jim Barrett found out about this investigation Dennis
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would be shut down that wasn't all the information Kim had he had the name of another rumored victim of days and
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that's essentially how the investigation continued a secret investigation that had to be hidden from Barrett and hidden
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from other police in case they go Barrett their tip off Dennis would speak to a victim they would give him a
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statement and then they were given the name of another victim and on it went then I struggled to comprehend the
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enormity of it at the time of the attacks the youngest victim was 8 the oldest was 15 all had been students at
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Sacred Heart primary school and Saint Joseph's high school the attacks occurred between 1957 the Year Day
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arrived at Mildura and the 1970 Dennis never liked today but getting drunk and blazing with
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consenting sex workers while preaching about chastity and morality was one thing but this this was something else
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it made Dennis sick to the core he felt like violently attacking day but knew that would achieve nothing he had to
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play this smart Dennis then started to wonder how much did he supervised a detective Jim Barrett know about all of
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this how much did the clerk of the court Joe Kearney know the three had an incredibly tight bond to dis explain the
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pictures Dennis had found in Barrett straw Denis had been looking in today for a
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month or when he decided it was time to approach the most senior officer in the district superintendent Jack McPartland
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McPartlin was another devout Catholic but he wasn't stationed at Mildura he was at Swan Hill over 200 kilometers or
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124 miles away he was in charge of the entire district that a lot of different police stations fell under covering a
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wide area Dennis felt confident the superintendent was far enough away that it wouldn't be
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influenced by day or Baron Dennis rung McPartlin and laid out the investigation he had five victim statements detailing
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sexual and indecent assaults committed by father day covering a 13 year period he was surprised when superintendent
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McPartlin told him to hand over all the statements he had taken to inspector Irwin immediately he also ordered Dennis
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to cease his investigation inspector Irwin was the officer in charge of Mildura police station at the time also
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a devout Catholic and a very place friend of Detective Sergeant Barrett so Barrett was in charge of the detectives
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office but Alan was the boss of the station and to the one Barrett had to answer to Dennis wasn't happy with that
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he told McPartlin quote what you're asking me to do will effectively destroy this investigation McPartlin required
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I'm going to tell you something now detective Ryan and you're not going to like it I'm
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superintendent and you're a nobody do as you're [ __ ] told McPartland slam the phone down Dennis's
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mine drifted back to the night he was pulled aside by sergeant Fred Russell and asked if he wanted to join an
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exclusive group of Catholic police officers who looked out for the church the Catholic mafia at the time
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Dennis thought it was minor offenses they could make go away drink-driving liaising with sex workers surely they
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weren't involved in covering up crimes against children or were they did the Catholic mafias reach extend all the way
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up to Mildura were they protecting a pedophile priest Dennis did as he was told he handed the five statements to
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inspector Irwin Irwin didn't say a word to Dennis he took the statements and then went straight back to his paperwork
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it was pretty obvious to Dennis those statements were headed straight for the bin Dennis and followed orders the stay
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out of trouble but he wasn't going to drop it that easily if he had to keep looking into father day he kept poking
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around and asking questions trying to find more victims in November 1971 inspector Owen told Dennis some good
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news Irwin was actually going to act on a statements Dennis had taken he was going to interview fathered a great
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thought Dennis Owen hadn't just thrown the statements in the bin maybe they could get somewhere with this
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investigation after all but then Bowen said he was taking Detective Sergeant Jim Barrett along
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with him for the interview Denis exploded he must be [ __ ] joking they are best friends
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he can't take him in on the interview it is a clear conflict of interest and will
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compromise the investigation Dennis's protests fell on deaf ears he was thought to shut up and stay out of
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it Denis suspects Barrett supplied day a copy of all the questions that were going to be asked of him to give him
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time to prepare during the interview day came up with all the right answers he denied the allegations and that was that
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it was going nowhere Denis though continued his investigation he wasn't going to sit back and let a
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pedophile get away that easily he found another two victims both were young boys
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at st. Joseph's high school when de indecently assaulted them they both provided statements after de had been
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interviewed when Denis handed the two new statements that Owen he just grunted and snatched them out of his hand being
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a small country town it didn't take long for people to start talking the news spread like wildfire in December 1971 a
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few weeks after they had been interviewed by Erwin and Barrett Denis was approached by one of the days fellow
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priests outside of the police station the priest had this to say drop the inquiry in today or you'll be
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out of a job Denis couldn't believe it threatened by a priest he told him to get [ __ ] what
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would make a priest think that the Catholic Church had any say over the hiring and firing of the Victorian
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police wondered Denis the town became divided half of them supported Denis and wanted to see the investigation
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conducted properly the other half would have been happy to burn Denis alive for casting suspicion on their beloved
00:34:14
priest Denis couldn't walk down the street without somebody saying something either abuse and threats or support and
00:34:22
sympathy depending on who he came across after days interview inspector Owen compiled a report to Superintendent
00:34:30
Department recommending no further police action be taken in the investigation McPartlin added his own
00:34:37
comments to the report for greeing with Erwin effectively the comments said that
00:34:42
the statements were made years after the attacks and that there was no corroborating evidence the report would
00:34:49
then be forwarded on to the police commissioner and to the crown prosecutors for final determination
00:34:55
Denis though continued to take statements from the victims of date he took another one from a young boy
00:35:01
outlining indecent and sexual assault that now made a total of eight victims who had provided statements to Denis
00:35:08
three of those eight victims were still current students as and joseph's high school and three of those statements had
00:35:15
been made after days police interview so that was new evidence that had to be considered Denis Ryan paid another visit
00:35:23
to John Hayden head teacher at Sand josephs he told him about the other victims of day he'd found but that had
00:35:31
been ordered off the case by Erwin and Barrett effectively ending the investigation they decided to try
00:35:39
something different and take the information they had today Superior bishop mock turns mob Kearns was in
00:35:46
charge of the Ballarat district made up of about 50 parishes they assumed he would treat these allegations in the
00:35:53
right way they drafted a detailed letter to him outlining all of the information
00:35:58
they had they requested he take action and removed a immediately I didn't quite get the response they were looking for
00:36:08
Bishop Malkin's defended day saying that inspector Owen and Detective Sergeant Barrett had already cleared him of these
00:36:16
allegations the Bishop conveniently ignored the three further allegations that came out after the day's interview
00:36:23
he said it was time for Dennis to change his ways and demonstrate loyalty today they had been subjected to a great deal
00:36:32
of embarrassment that he didn't deserve it was tarnishing his excellent reputation
00:36:39
the bishop obviously wasn't interested in the abuse of children committed by one of his priests so Denis continued
00:36:45
taking statements before Christmas in 1971 he had taken a further three signed statements from victims a day at the
00:36:55
time of the attacks there were students at Sacred Heart primary school aged between 11 and 13 that brought the total
00:37:02
number of victims who had provided statements 211 after a few years of living in Mildura Denis had moved his
00:37:10
family outside of the town onto a property that meant he no longer went to church at Mildura as Red Cliffs was
00:37:18
closer to him that suited him just fine as in the six years he had been attending church at Red Cliffs he hadn't
00:37:25
seen father day there once but after Dennis started his investigation they did turn up to the church there one day
00:37:34
Dennis's son was actually an altar boy at the time he was shocked when the priest and the altar boy started their
00:37:41
procession into the church and he saw that it was day standing behind his son Dennis stood up and told his son to get
00:37:49
changed out of his older boy uniform because they were leaving he then stared at day and yelled he dirty bastard you
00:37:57
think I'm going to let you anywhere near my children they didn't say anything and
00:38:02
carried on trying to ignore him but he looked rattled the other attendees at the church was shocked at what they had
00:38:09
just witnessed despite Dennis taking a further six statements after day's interview the
00:38:16
investigation was going nowhere it was being stalled by Erwin and Barrett with the help of Superintendent McPartland
00:38:22
Dennis had nowhere to turn he decided to try his luck by ringing one of his old friends from his days working in
00:38:31
Melbourne Frank Holland who is now a superintendent himself Dennis told him about the investigation he was
00:38:38
conducting in today and how it had been stalled Holland told him he already knew
00:38:44
all about it and not to worry because help was on the way Dennis couldn't believe it maybe now he
00:38:51
could get somewhere with DES this is just what they needed a senior officer from me outside the region to come in
00:38:57
and take charge the men that was sent was Superintendent John O'Connor chief investigator for the Commissioner you
00:39:07
couldn't get much higher but when Dennis feared it was O'Connor who was coming up
00:39:12
he was alarmed O'Connor was a devout Catholic O'Connor arrived on the 15th of January 1972 Dennis already had a bad
00:39:23
feeling and he didn't feel any better when I Connor said this to him quote what I intend to do is have Barrett
00:39:31
moved on and he will be made Detective Sergeant here Dennis knew he didn't have the experience to step straight into a
00:39:39
Detective Sergeant role he also knew that he would first have to go back to Melbourne and spend time as a sergeant
00:39:45
in uniform but O'Connor told him not to worry he could make it happen where there's a will there's a way
00:39:54
Dennis said with all due respect that it wasn't his intention to take Barrett's spot he just wanted some help with the
00:40:01
investigation in today and his abuse of children O'Connor told him not to worry about it we can smooth all that over
00:40:09
Barrett's gone you'll be my man here now but you'll have to play ball Dennis again refused no I don't want Jim's job
00:40:21
sir I want day thoroughly investigated he's an absolute disgrace to the priesthood
00:40:26
and he should be unfrocked Oakland I just stared at him turned his back and walked off Dennis knew he was in even
00:40:39
bigger trouble near a superintendent had offered him what was essentially a bribe
00:40:43
he looks the other way with de and leaves it to O'Connor to smooth over and as a reward he gets promoted into the
00:40:51
position of Barrett Barrett gets moved on elsewhere everybody's happy but Dennis refused in l1 O'Connor
00:41:03
ignored Dennis from that point on Dennis tried to speak to him a number of times
00:41:07
to find out what was happening he requested to be let back on to the investigation he believed that if he was
00:41:14
given the support from his superiors then he had the trust from the local community to be able to get a whole lot
00:41:20
more statements against Day O'Connor wasn't having any of it he warned Dennis he would be subject to disciplinary
00:41:27
action if he didn't stay off the case like he had been ordered just to prove a point Dennis took a twelfth statement
00:41:34
the boy was 11 when he was sexually assaulted what day a few weeks after arriving in Mildura to clean up the mess
00:41:41
O'Connor met with Bishop Mok parents he gave him an ultimatum move day on from Mildura or he would go to jail not only
00:41:52
was the good reputation of the Catholic Church at stake but so was the reputation of the Victorian police force
00:41:58
imagine if it got out that certain members of the place were protecting a pedophile priest the whispers had gotten
00:42:05
too loud twelve statements was too many to ignore it would be best for all concerned if the bishop moves day on so
00:42:15
the matter could be wrapped up nice and quietly nor cans again tried to defend day saying no though in a Barrett had
00:42:24
clued him but I Cana presented the seven other statements Denis had obtained since day
00:42:30
was questioned that shut nocturnes up two days later they announced during a church service that he had offered his
00:42:39
resignation from the parish which Bishop Malkin's had accepted as a result he would be leaving Mildura the community
00:42:49
was still divided the staunch Catholic supporters believed day was the victim of a witch hunt and had been unfairly
00:42:55
treated others were happy to see him go so that was it they had to leave Mildura
00:43:03
he wasn't arrested he never had to face court his victims never got justice instead what happened the church paid in
00:43:13
all expenses overseas trip today for counselling and spiritual healing Barret found himself in trouble too not only
00:43:21
was he protecting day but he was also acting as a stand over man for him he went under investigation for extorting
00:43:29
money from two men he had arrested Barrett told the men the charges would go away if they donated an appropriate
00:43:36
amount of money into father days building fund the building fund was for day to build himself a brand new church
00:43:44
and residence it was well known around town by some of the criminal element that Barrett could
00:43:52
help you better charge for a suitable donation to father day not only that Barrett stood over the illegal
00:44:01
bookmakers in town on behalf of day what he would do his approach a bookie and say father day will have ten dollars on
00:44:09
the winner of the last race the bookie knew exactly what that meant and it had nothing to do with gambling whichever
00:44:17
horse won the last race they would win whatever it paid times ten it was the cost of doing business for the illegal
00:44:24
bookmakers in Mildura not only was they a pedophile he was running an extortion racket with the help of a detective
00:44:32
Sergeant and that wasn't the only racket they had going on there was the fraud arranged by Joe Kearney the local court
00:44:41
clerk who was also a part of this tight-knit group he was the treasurer of the church's funds and in charge of the
00:44:47
money given by the government to run the to Catholic schools well Joe had set up
00:44:53
a nice little scam with that money he created a teacher's position that didn't exist and he hired a teacher that didn't
00:45:01
exist to fill that position the government paid that teacher's salary which actually went straight into the
00:45:07
pocket of Kearney who then passed it on to father day on top of the scams was the constant badgering of the
00:45:14
parishioners to donate money to the church Dave was relentless with those requests and Barrett was there holding
00:45:22
the bag for him making sure it was full O'Connor had gotten rid of day nice and quietly but now he had to get rid of
00:45:30
Barrett he couldn't risk keeping Emory in Mildura after what happened he was transferred to another station hundreds
00:45:37
of kilometers away out of sight out of mind the third member of their group Joe Kearney had to go as well an order had
00:45:47
just been conducted on the local court accounts there was money missing everywhere Kearney wasn't just skimming
00:45:54
the school funds but he knew too much about date and Barrett he was told if he left town and kept
00:46:01
mouths shut he would be spared jail he didn't have to be asked to us Kearney was also suspected of raping a woman in
00:46:11
the courthouse but she was too frightened to provide a statement against him so he was never charged
00:46:17
Dennis Ryan was still a loose end as well O'Connor sat him down and told him he was going to be charged for failing
00:46:25
to complete the outcome of an arrest in his diary this wasn't a criminal charge it was internal disciplinary action they
00:46:33
couldn't get anything serious on Dennis so they found this a trivial matter which most of the detectives in the
00:46:40
state probably could have been charged with if they looked close enough they were clutching at straws basically
00:46:47
Dennis didn't play ball so this was his reward O'Connor forwarded a final report
00:46:54
to the commissioner in it he said that the evidence was insufficient to prosecute father day the priest was
00:47:00
officially in the clear the investigation was stopped at some of the highest levels of the Victorian police
00:47:07
nothing came with the investigation into Barrett extorting money he kept his rank
00:47:12
and position within the Victorian police he remained a detective sergeant for another eight years before retiring he
00:47:19
died in 1997 if Dennis Ryan was allowed to stay in or juror he would have kept taking statements and investigating day
00:47:28
that's what he planned to do and his superiors knew it they wouldn't allow it his transfer order came through almost
00:47:36
immediately Dennis was told that he could apply for any station in the state of Victoria
00:47:41
that was available but if he wasn't successful finding anywhere by the 15th of May 1972 then he had the report to
00:47:49
Russell Street back in Melbourne his reward for investigating a pedophile priest and trying to get justice for the
00:47:56
victims was a force to transfer Dennis went off on sick leave and then offered his resignation he felt that if he left
00:48:05
in Mildura then the cover-up would be complete but if he stayed in Mildura then his voice could still be heard he
00:48:12
could keep the trust of the victims although he would no longer be a police officer and couldn't conduct the
00:48:18
investigation he felt it was the right thing to do the crown prosecutors completed a review of the case and
00:48:25
confirmed the decisions of the senior police they said in their report there is insufficient evidence to prosecute
00:48:32
day we trust the authorities in the church will realize that the decision not to prosecute does not arise from any
00:48:39
conviction that the allegations are unfounded having regard to the similarities of the various accounts it
00:48:47
would appear to be little doubt that they misconducted himself when they returned from his all-expenses-paid
00:48:53
overseas counseling trip Bishop mal Kern's sent him to a tiny parish called Tim Boone in country Victoria he was not
00:49:02
prevented from being in contact with children and the people of the town had no idea about days past he stayed in the
00:49:10
town until his death in 1978 he was 74 years old he had been a priest for 48 years at dais funeral bishop mal Kern's
00:49:21
talked about his great work and his humble magnificence quote Lord hear the prayers we offer for John Day your
00:49:30
servant and priest he faithfully fulfilled his ministry in your name may he rejoice forever in the Fellowship
00:49:38
of the Saints many of those victims descended into alcoholism drug abuse in some committed suicide
00:49:48
Dennis remained in Mildura his wife left him a few years after he left the police
00:49:53
force he didn't stay quiet about day or the cover-up by the church and members of the police force but his pleas were
00:50:01
ignored for many many years the official file said that Dennis had resigned from the police due to a
00:50:08
personal conflict with Jim Barrett and that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute day that was it as the years
00:50:16
went on and senior officers turned over when any of them looked at the file that's what they saw things are
00:50:23
obviously a lot different today in 1972 no priest had ever stood before a judge charged with a child sex offense it was
00:50:33
unheard of then priests could do no wrong they held positions of trust in the community and were held in high
00:50:40
regard spiritual guardians today it's not unheard of for a priest to be charged with a child sex offense it's
00:50:49
acknowledged now that there was a serious problem with some priests and a lot of crimes have been covered up over
00:50:55
the years the Catholic Church set up a compensation fund in Australia called towards healing giving money to victims
00:51:03
of abuse but to get the money the victims have to sign a nondisclosure agreement in 2006 Denis Ryan was told
00:51:13
that over 100 people had come forward to claim compensation as a direct result of
00:51:18
sexual and indecent assaults committed by father day and they weren't just from your juror they had committed his
00:51:28
horrific acts at his other parishes as well they were also covered up when the rumors got too loud and complaints
00:51:36
started to be made against him the bishop simply moved him on to another parish des was given a fresh start in a
00:51:44
new town to ruin the lives of more victims the Catholic mafia element of the Victorian police force that existed
00:51:53
between the 1950s and 1970s is long gone religion itself is nowhere near as prominent in society and in turn the
00:52:01
police force as it was back then times have changed in 2012 Denis Ryan published a book called unholy trinity
00:52:10
which gives his account of the story that book was read at some of the highest levels of the victorian
00:52:16
government and police force that was also used in the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sex
00:52:23
abuse this Royal Commission is still taking place today covering different reports of abuse from all over the
00:52:30
country a lot of different cases and offenders and responses to those cases are still being looked at one case the
00:52:39
Royal Commission dealt with was that a father day in 2015 the Royal Commission heard about the sexual and indecent
00:52:47
assaults committed by father day under the cover-up of Denis Ryan's work by other officers former Victorian Police
00:52:55
Commissioner Mick Miller had this to say to the Commission quote without doubt there was misconduct by senior Victorian
00:53:03
police officers including dereliction of duty conspiracy to pervert the course of
00:53:08
justice and inciting other members of the police force to join the conspiracy against Denis Ryan in order to conceal
00:53:15
crimes committed by day Dennis himself gave evidence of the commission his story was finally taken
00:53:23
as fact no longer was he being ignored it was accepted there was a cover-up of days crimes by some bishops and by some
00:53:31
police officers it was accepted that a group of police existed that put a halt to any investigation into a priest the
00:53:39
group was known as the Catholic mafia a lot of the members would remain unknown but they certainly wilted their
00:53:46
influence in Mildura in the early 70s the room erupted in applause when Dennis stepped down from
00:53:52
the witness box after giving his evidence it was only last month August 2016 that Dennis
00:54:00
Foley's final vindication current Victorian Police Commissioner Graham Ashton invited Dennis to a morning tea
00:54:08
Ashton himself had once told a state parliamentary inquiry quote the processes of the Catholic Church are
00:54:15
designed to put the reputation of the church first under the victims second commissioner Ashton made an official
00:54:22
apology to Dennis on behalf of the Victorian police he said Dennis you were right and your commitment has been
00:54:29
outstanding Dennis accepted the apology and read from a prepared statement saying quote
00:54:36
in my day as of Detective I became aware and indeed had my career roughly ended by some of the most senior members of
00:54:45
the force who had a distorted sense of loyalty to other institutions that failure led to what I have described as
00:54:52
an epidemic of clerical child sex abuse in Victoria that the Catholic Church covered up and engaged in criminal
00:55:00
conspiracies brings great shame on that institution but the failures of policing
00:55:05
in pursuit of that distorted sense of loyalty led one victim to become - to become 10 and awfully and finally for
00:55:15
the number of victims to become too large to count my own circumstances have been distinctly grim since I left the
00:55:22
force but as dark as some of those days have been they have no parallel with those forced to endure the pain
00:55:29
and suffering of sexual abuse what makes it worse and haunts my dreams to this day is that if we as police did what we
00:55:39
were supposed to do what we were charged to do what we took an oath to do so much
00:55:45
of that pain and suffering would not exist today [Music]