Mother raped by Catholic priest says church leaders failed to properly investigate abuse

Ann-Marie Shelley says the Catholic Church failed to properly investigated her complaint of rape against a priest in the 1970s. Photo / Royal Commission livestream

WARNING: CONTAINS DESCRIPTION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

A mother who was raped by a Catholic priest says the church investigated the abuse itself and initially moved him to a different school rather than punishing him.

She later complained to police, who twice decided against pressing charges before finally securing a conviction after a review.

Ann-Marie Shelley, now aged 64, appeared before a royal commission of inquiry in Auckland this morning, which is holding hearings on abuse in faith-based institutions.

She was left at Hutt Hospital after her birth in 1955 and placed for adoption through Catholic Social Services.

In a harrowing statement, Shelley described how she was neglected or abused at nearly every stage of her life - at the hands of her adoptive parents, at primary school, at a social welfare home, in an unmarried parents' home, by a priest, and in a Red Cross shelter.

While she was training to be a nurse at Hutt Hospital, she was raped by Peter Hercock, a school counsellor and chaplain at Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt.

Hercock's crimes have previously been reported, but Shelley today spoke for the first time in detail about the way the church handled her complaint. She was critical of church leaders who have since been promoted to prestigious roles in New Zealand.

Shelley had initially been sent to Hercock for counselling while she was a student at Sacred Heart. He raped her in 1974 when she went to him for counselling after her first child was taken from her for adoption.

Ten years later, he again raped her while she was living in emergency Red Cross housing.

"While at the Red Cross house [he] climbed through the window in the middle of the night and raped me while my 5-year-old son and 9-month-old baby twins were asleep right next to my bed," she told commissioners.

She later discovered that he had assaulted other women, and her anger over this prompted her to make a formal complaint with the Catholic Church's Abuse Protocol Committee in September 2002 - 26 years after she was first assaulted.

She said the two committee members who investigated her case were not experienced or qualified for the task. One of them was a priest, Father Tim Duckworth.

When she asked what the church was going to do about Hercock's other victims, she was told by Duckworth: "Nothing. It's not our responsibility".

She received a formal apology six weeks later and a payment of $25,000.

"And then I was expected to shut up and go away. Apologies are good, but accountability would be even better."

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During this time, she received information that Hercock had abused two other girls at Sacred Heart College in the 1970s. One of the victims said she was told by Father Peter McCormack at Catholic Social Services to stay quiet about the complaint.

The victim's family demanded that Hercock be removed from Sacred Heart Lower Hutt. The archdiocese removed him, but sent him to Sacred Heart College in Napier.

"I believe this practice of moving priests on has come to be known as 'the geographical cure'," Shelley said. "A way the Church can hide the abuse and keep it a secret."

Peter Hercock in court over sexual assault charges in 2016. Photo / Jimmy Ellingham

Shelley laid a complaint with Wellington Police in 2003 and Hercock was interviewed but charges were not laid. Police cited limitations in the Crimes Act and a lack of victims, she said. This was despite Hercock making a signed admission of guilt to the protocol committee.

In 2014, she laid another complaint with police after being encouraged by victims advocate Louise Nicholas. Police again insisted there was not enough evidence but after she persisted he was charged in 2015.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years and seven months in jail. At his sentencing, Duckworth, who investigated her original complaint, provided a character reference for Hercock.

"I have trouble articulating my shock and the sense of betrayal by the church in general, and Father Tim Duckworth in particular," she said.

In January, Duckworth was promoted to head of the Society of Mary for New Zealand - one of the most senior church roles in the country.

Shelley said she wanted the Catholic Church to compensate victims, rather than "hiding" behind the ACC no-fault scheme.

She wanted not only perpetrators but the Church hierarchy which protected them to take responsibility for the historic abuse.

And she wanted faith-based institutions to be required to hand over their complaints processes to an independent body.

Where to get help:

• If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

• If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the confidential crisis helpline

Safe to Talk

on: 0800 044 334 or text 4334.

• Alternatively contact your local police station

• If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.