Melbourne archdiocese loses legal bid to block choirboy’s father from suing for damages
The Catholic church’s bid to block a legal ruling that would allow the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by CardinalThe father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, filed a claim against the Catholic Archdiocese ofand Cardinal Pell. He claims to have suffered nervous shock after learning of allegations the cardinal sexually abused his now-deceased son in the mid-1990s.
But when supreme court justice Michael McDonald ruled in August 2022 that claims for secondary victims, including the boy’s father, were allowed, the archdiocese immediately appealed. The appeal judges found no reference in legislation to any particular individual or category of individual who could be plaintiffs in a child abuse case, noting no apparent limitations for plaintiffs, primary victims or survivors.
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