A paedophile priest and former Catholic school teacher has been jailed for 15 years after he abused and groped 12 boys while they attended a Southern Highlands college in the 1980s.
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Anthony William Peter Caruana could spend the rest of his life in prison after he was sentenced to a non parole period of 10 years when he appeared in Sydney Downing Centre on Friday.
A jury found the 80-year-old priest guilty of 26 charges including 22 counts of indecent assault and four counts of sexual intercourse with a pupil following a seven-week trial, which began in May.
All the victims were aged between 12 and 14 and were students at Chevalier College in Burradoo, near Bowral, between 1982 and 1989 while Caruana was a religion and music teacher aged between 41 and 48.
He was also a house or dormitory master, band master and a rugby coach, and all the assaults occurred while the students were under Caruana's care.
"Each of the offences was committed in circumstances where the offender owed a special duty to each of these young boys, over and above that which every adult owes to every child, and especially to those who were boarders and were away from home often for the first time," Judge Robyn Tupman said.
"Each of them involved a breach of trust towards these children.
"These boys were entrusted to the school and the care of the teachers and priests, like this offender, and he abused that trust by sexually assaulting them."
The court heard Caruana decided to become a priest at 10-years-old and he entered a seminary at age 12 before he became an ordained priest in the The Order of the Missionary of the Sacred Heart.
There was an initial complaint made by a number of students in 1989 which was investigated by police and resulted in the Order removing Caruana from teaching at the college.
He was placed into a position in the Order's archives department in Sydney where he remained until he was taken into custody on July 14 following the jury verdict.
There were two separate trials in 1992 by two complainants but Caruana was acquitted of both. There have also been civil cases brought against him and the Order.
Judge Tupman said there had been a delay in holding Caruana to account but there was no "unfairness", and there was no evidence he had spent decades living with the fear of being charged "hanging over this head".
Some of the complainants gave evidence into the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and investigators then mounted a criminal case, contacting men to see if they wanted to pursue a court case against Carurana.
Judge Tupman said Caruana had not offended again since being removed from his position, likely due to his position in the archives department eliminating the risk of contact with children.
"There is no evidence to support he was ostracised by the Order, in fact he was appropriately and compassionately dealt with by them," she said adding he had been offered and undertaken treatment for his paedophilia.
These boys were entrusted to the school and the care of the teachers and priests, like this offender, and he abused that trust by sexually assaulting them.
- Judge Tupman
Judge Tupman also said Caruana had enjoyed his freedom in the community for decades where he had friendship and pursued his interests including cycling.
She did note he was not a "person of good character" due to the ongoing sexual crimes he committed and he knew he had a sexual interest in boys and acted on it.
Judge Tupman accepted a report from a psychiatrist who opined Caruana had a "sexual feeling towards boys" and gave the diagnoses he was "probably a homosexual paedophilie"
The judge also agreed Caruana had a low likelihood of reoffending.
The court heard Caruana's first crime occurred when he touched a boy in a swimming pool at a carnival in 1982 while another boy was groped on multiple occasions while he taught how to do a rugby scrum.
The court also heard Caruana would "tackle" boys on their beds where he would touch them, and he groped one boy whilst "tickling" him.
Caruana touched another boy, who was a ward of the state on the outside of his clothing more than 40 times when he would go to Caruana's room so he could read his foster mother's letters.
Another man gave evidence of the ongoing abuse when Caruana was the school band master. He helped the 13-year-old student practice an instrument.
The man detailed how on one occasion Caruana stood behind him while he played and pushed his erect penis against his body while both were fully clothed. This happened in similar circumstances another three times, mainly in the instrument room when the boy stayed back to pack away items.
The court heard Caruana was "manipulative" when he spoke to the boy about God. Caruana said words to the effect of "to be at the school you have to love God", "I know you have been thinking of trying to please God" and "you know God will like it if you please a man of God" to the boy during the assaults.
Caruana's offending escalated towards the end of 1984 when he sexually assaulted the boy on two occasions while in the band room when they were alone.
The court also heard Caruana forced a boy to perform fellatio on him and he did the same to the child over two consecutive days.
Some of the victims were indecently assaulted while seeking treatment for injuries from Caruana who was the coach. Instead of applying ointment or massaging the injury he would rub the boys' genitals.
Judge Tupman acknowledged the ongoing impact and trauma many of the men told her they still felt in their victim impact statements.
Several men spoke about how their loved ones did not believe they were assaulted by Caruana because he was a priest.
In handing down her sentence, Judge Tupman noted Caurana was in good health for his age and could be monitored for heart disease but had no cognitive problems and had remained an active cyclist until he entered custody.
She took into account the imprisonment would be Caruana's first time in jail, his age and that he was at the end stage of his life, the COVID-19 pandemic and that his experience in custody likely would be more onerous due to his health condition and being in protected custody due to the nature of his crimes.
Caruana will be eligible for parole in 2031.
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