A man who was sexually abused by a Chrisitan Brother teacher at Aquinas College in Perth, in the 1960s, is dreaming answers from the Archdiocese of Hobart, as to why it ignored his concerns. Peter Cotton says he tried to raise the alarm about his abuser, Daniel McMahon, after learning he had moved to Tasmania to become a priest. But the church allowed him to continue practising for about 10 years up until his death.
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00:00Peter Cotton was in his first weeks at Aquinas College in Perth in the 1960s when he was
00:14sexually abused by his class teacher, Christian brother Daniel McMahon.
00:21Almost 40 years later, Mr Cotton found out McMahon had moved to Tasmania to become a
00:27Catholic priest.
00:30I had a 12 year old son at the time, about the age I was when I was assaulted by this
00:34guy.
00:35I wanted him out of the system.
00:38He made an official complaint to the Archdiocese of Hobart in 2002.
00:43It's one of many complaints about McMahon, who was moved between various schools in Western
00:49Australia and South Australia before returning to Tasmania.
00:54Judy Cotton's law firm represents 10 survivors of abuse by McMahon.
01:00McMahon was raping and sexually assaulting children over a period of 35 to 40 years.
01:07He started in Tasmania in the 50s when he was still training to be a Christian brother.
01:14Mr Cotton made a claim for compensation, which was paid by the trustees of the Christian
01:19brothers in 2019.
01:21A former journalist, he's used his interviewing and research skills to write about McMahon,
01:27uncovering letters between then Tasmanian Archbishop Adrian Doyle and then head of the
01:32Christian brothers, Brother Kevin Ryan.
01:36I got an assurance from the Archdiocese of Hobart that McMahon had been put out to pasture
01:4118 months after my complaint.
01:43Then I get a bundle of letters that make that out to be a lie.
01:48Four years after Mr Cotton's complaint, Brother Ryan wrote to Archbishop Doyle,
01:54We believe you would be making a very wise decision if you fully withdraw Father Daniel
01:59from ministry.
02:00Replying to Brother Ryan, Archbishop Doyle referred to an upcoming meeting with McMahon,
02:06writing it would assist in conveying the decision that his public priestly ministry come to
02:11an end.
02:12In 2023, a Western Australian parliamentary inquiry found McMahon was a priest until his
02:18death in 2012.
02:21Archbishop Doyle and the current Archbishop Julian Porteus declined to be interviewed
02:26and didn't respond to written questions.
02:29A spokesperson cited confidentiality as the reason, but this lack of response could be
02:34seen as adding further trauma to victim survivors.
02:40It's so important that institutions are actually willing to acknowledge and be transparent
02:46about their past mistakes.
02:48For victim survivors, that's about being seen.
02:51It's about an organisation demonstrating that they actually learned and that children
02:56in the future will be safer, which is a huge motivator.