The Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, has been forced to respond to another sex abuse claim after an alleged victim accused the Melbourne archdiocese of having "covered up" a scandal involving a church worker and a priest.
The worker, who was jailed on 29 charges of indecent assault and buggery, is alleged by former altar boys to have been a serial abuser at Fawkner North parish, where he worked in the 1960s. He is also alleged to have abused boys at the Smith's Beach camp on Phillip Island, where Dr Pell is alleged to have abused a 12-year-old boy.
Dr Pell, who has branded the abuse allegations against him as "lies" and "an evil smear of the most vindictive kind", yesterday emphatically rejected the latest claims that police had told him in 1996 or 1997 of the abuse by the church worker.
One alleged victim claims he was assaulted by the church worker, Robert Charles Blunden, and by a priest.
He says a police officer told him the archdiocese had been informed of the case through Dr Pell. But Dr Pell allegedly told police the priest had died, when he was, in fact, alive, the man said.
The alleged victim says that he and other former altar boys were angry that the priest had not been charged.
The Vicar-General for the Melbourne archdiocese, Monsignor Christopher Prowse, said yesterday that Dr Pell "has no knowledge of any such contact, then or since".
Monsignor Prowse said the story did not ring true. He said that in 1996, when the alleged abuse claims were made, the priest was living publicly in Melbourne. His name was in church journals. "To say that he had died was ridiculous, given that he was living publicly," he said.
He added that a thorough check of church files yesterday showed no record of such allegations. He said if they existed, the church "would be more than happy to deal with it through the normal channels".
Monsignor Prowse said he knew nothing about Robert Blunden. "There is nothing in our files about links with Blunden. It may not have come to our attention in those days, " he said.
He also stressed that Dr Pell would not have been the person consulted by police in any case, if they had approached the archdiocese. The matter would have been handled by the then vicar-general, he said.
But the alleged victim claims the church should have known, at least about Blunden, and should have offered to help his victims.
"I was 11 or 12 in Fawkner," the man said yesterday. "It would have been 1965 and 1966 and . . . Blunden lived in the presbytery. He was part-time caretaker. But he was a predator.
"I was an altar boy. Blunden would sit us on his knee. He would give us a lolly or a zac (sixpence). Then, he started slowly touching our legs, and putting his hands on our shorts, and then put his hands in our pockets . . . and playing with us."
Blunden was committed for trial on 24 charges of indecency in 1996 after a priest and others gave evidence against him.
Blunden pleaded guilty in the Melbourne County Court on February 14, 1997, to 29 charges of indecent assault on males and buggery.
Most of the offences occurred in the Melbourne area, although one was committed in Moe and another at Donnybrook. All the offences were committed between 1964 and 1969.
Judge John Campton sentenced Blunden to three years' jail, with a 12 month non-parole period. Blunden, a retired shop-keeper, died on September 24, 1998, aged 81.
Three former altar boys were reported in The Age yesterday as claiming they had been abused at Smith's Beach camp or at Fawkner North parish by Blunden. But Victoria Police's sexual crimes squad found no records of any fresh sex abuse claims reported at Phillip Island.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Archdiocese said yesterday that Dr Pell would not say public Mass while an inquiry was continuing into the allegations that he assaulted a Melbourne boy in 1961.
A spokeswoman said support for the archbishop since the allegations were made public had been overwhelming.
The co-chair of the National Committee for Professional Standards, Brother Michael Hill, said the terms of reference for the inquiry were still being determined but it was hoped they would be completed by next Tuesday.