Extradition saga ends name suppression for clergyman

The High Court has lifted name suppression for a Catholic clergyman facing allegations of sexual abuse.

Father Raymond Garchow, 59, had already been named and yesterday Justice Lester Chisholm in Christchurch ruled that the order suppressing the name of Brother Roger Moloney, 71 , could be lifted.

Both men face allegations of sexually abusing boys as young as 8 between 1966 and 1979 at the Marylands Special School in Christchurch. Garchow faces four charges, and Moloney 28.

Justice Chisholm said recent publicity concerning the extradition proceedings relating to the men had led him to clarify the suppression orders.

On Friday Australian Justice Rodney Madgwick ruled it would be "unjust or oppressive" to send the two members of the St John of God Order back to New Zealand.

The differences in the New Zealand and Australian legal systems, and the length of time since the alleged crimes, would make it difficult for the men to receive a fair trial.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday that she "stood by the integrity of the New Zealand judicial system".

But NZ Council for Civil Liberties president Tony Ellis urged NZ judges to adopt the Australian practice of always warning juries the defence might be prejudiced in historical sex abuse cases by an inability to bring witnesses and evidence that might have been available had the case been heard earlier.

Justice Madgwick granted the men bail because of their health problems.

"It is clear that they are both men in poor health and incarceration will aggravate their problems of mental health," he said.

Justice Chisholm said that because of the publication of the names of the men in the context of the extradition proceedings in Australia, continued suppression no longer served any useful purpose.

But allegations which emerged during the trial of a colleague at the school would remain suppressed.

Brother Bernard McGrath was found guilty on 21 sex abuse charges by a jury in the High Court at Christchurch last month.

McGrath, who had faced 44 charges dating back to his time as a teacher at Marylands in the 1970s, was found not guilty on 23 charges.