Father David Daniel

Royal Commission records show that Father David Daniel was born in 1942 and ordained as a priest in May 1975. Further records by the Archdiocese of Melbourne show that Father Daniel served in the Archdiocese in the following locations and positions:

Archdiocese records further indicate that the Archdiocese received on four separate occasions, allegations of sexual abuse against Father Daniels for incidents occurring between 1978 to 1990. The allegations involved indecent acts with a minor of which the victims were aged between 6 to 13 years old. The same records, maintain that the Archdiocese took no action over the complaints/allegation in 1988 and 1994 but eventually placed Father Daniel in administrative leave in 1997 when the Archdiocese became aware that Victoria Police where investigating Father Daniel.

In 2000, Father Daniel was charged with 9 counts of indecent assault on a minor, 2 counts of gross indecency, 2 counts of indecent acts with a minor, and 1 count of sexual penetration of a 16 year under care. Father Daniel initially pleaded guilty to the charges but later changed his plea and his case went to trial.

He was eventually found guilty in 2000 and was sentenced to six years imprisonment in total with a non-parole period of 4 years 6 months, later reduced on appeal to 5 years 3 months with a non-parole period of 4 years.

In 2011, Father Daniel was laicized (i.e. removed from the clergy) and died in 2014.

Moody Law has in the past represented and is still representing clients who have made allegations of sexual abuse against clergy members belonging to the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.

We invite former victims of Father David Daniel 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.