Brother Neil Richards

Brother Desmond Eric ("Neil") Richards - better known as Brother "Neil" Richards - spent more than 50 years with the Christian Brothers, including as a headmaster in various Catholic schools in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Brother Richards began teaching as a Christian Brother in 1961, and according to court records, committed his first sexual assault on a boy in 1962.

Throughout the years Brother Richards has been sentenced over the following charges:

• In 2014, Brother Richards was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months, with a minimum of two years behind bars for the sexual and physical abuse of four boys between 1972 and 1982 at the following schools - St Patrick’s Albury, Bishop Henschke Boys’ School Wagga Wagga, and at St Patrick’s College Strathfield;

• In 2016, Brother Richards was sentenced to another six years maximum for the sexual abuse of another six victims at St Edward's Christian Brothers School in Gosford from the 1960s to the 1980s; and

• In 2018, Brother Richards was sentenced to additional jail time for certain offences committed at St Patrick’s College Strathfield in 1986 and 1987. This was in relation to offences committed to students in Year 5 and 6.

Brother Richards will be eligible to apply for release on parole after 15 December 2021.

We invite former students, teachers and parents to contact us to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.