Archbishops’ chaplain behind bars at last

In addition, Greaves fought in preliminary hearings to have separate trials for each of the victims, in the hope of avoiding conviction. He was willing to string out the legal proceedings, adding vastly to his legal costs, in order to try to maintain the sham of respectability to which he had clung for almost 30 years.

Had Greaves been a Christian in the biblical sense of the word, or even a decent human being, he would have taken responsibility for his crimes almost 30 years ago.

Sincere Christians in the Anglican Communion are justifiably thrown off balance when they realise a church powerbroker they trusted as a man of God, has betrayed them all, and is just a criminal. The public is justifiably sceptical of the church’s claims over several years now that it has overcome it’s failures to protect children. Hopefully the Diocese will promptly depose Greaves from Holy Orders on the basis of his criminal conviction.

Greaves’ late stage guilty plea is evidence that the systemic rot in the Diocese has reached to the highest echelons of the Anglican Church.

Greaves’ jailing is a significant event for the victims of his crimes who have lived with the sordid memories of being violated by a priest in whom they and their parents trusted. These boys, now grown men possibly with children of their own, have taken a most difficult and tortuous journey to confront the past, to recount in clinical detail to the police, the offences committed against them, and have endured the painfully slow judicial process of investigation, remand mentions, committal proceedings and trial preparation.

Many times they would have been tempted to give up in the face of the overwhelming social status and power of the aggressor. Many times they would have questioned whether the pain they were enduring was worthwhile in order to fulfil their social duty of reporting criminal behaviour to the police.

To their credit they decided to keep going, to do what they knew they needed to do despite the emotional pain, to stand up for their own integrity, to stand up for the truth and to do all they could to protect children from Greaves.

It is difficult to imagine the pressure the victims felt when Greaves was under police investigation and was allowed by the Brisbane Diocese to openly attend Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Fortitude Valley, presenting Bible readings during services and interacting with children.

Bishop John Parkes declared to the media in 2008 that alleged pedophile priests, specifically including Greaves, could not be stopped from interacting with children as part of the congregation nor from participating in church duties open to any lay person - such as singing in a choir, Bible readings or being part of the cleaning roster. “Until they were convicted, they were entitled to be considered innocent until proven guilty,” Bishop Parkes was quoted to have said at the time.

Given Greaves’ guilty plea on Friday, to nine counts of sex offences against children, this policy needs a swift rethink and action to protect children as a first priority under the precautionary principle.

Greaves was sentenced to three years’ jail, of which he will serve nine months before stepping out of jail on a suspended sentence with no parole supervision. He will not be in jail long enough to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program.

On the positive side, Greaves’ removal from the top of the Diocese to jail may result in a new stream of victims of other sex offending clergy now finding the courage to step forward to the police. If this eventuates, then the three brave victims who gave evidence against Greaves will have the added comfort that they have helped set other survivors free from the same lonely, humiliating hell they have lived through themselves since the offences.

If these three victims take civil action against the Brisbane Diocese for failing in its duty of care, it will be interesting to see whether the Diocese will continue to use the Statute of Limitations to prevent them seeking compensation for their suffering. To date the Diocese has chosen to use legal defences barring victims from even bringing a compensation action if they are older than 21.

Greaves’ guilty plea could become a material fact of a decisive character which enables them to seek compensation despite the time delay, so long as they file their claim within one year and are prepared to face court costs of around $30,000. For these men to have to fight further court battles would add further unnecessary struggle which surely Anglican parishioners would not condone.

It would be a refreshing change for the better if the Brisbane Diocese recognised the sheer courage of the three men, apologised for their suffering, and made significant compensation payments to each of them for their willingness to spend five years assisting the authorities in the administration of justice.