Father John Patrick Casey
John Patrick Casey was a former parish priest who served most of his religious career within the Catholic Diocese of Lismore. He was born in 1948 and ordained as a priest in 1974. New South Wales court records indicate that Father Casey served at the following parishes within Lismore and in northern Queensland:
Ingham parish - Catholic Diocese of Townsville (priest at St Patrick’s Church Ingham - 1978 to 1979);
Mallanganee parish - Diocese of Lismore (priest - 1981 to 1988);
Camden Haven parish - Diocese of Lismore (priest- early 1990s to 2004); and
Satwell parish - Diocese of Lismore - (priest - 2004 to 2015).
Father Casey also served as one of the Diocese of Lismore four regional vicars and worked as a part-time police chaplain, performing police funerals and other religious services.
In 2015, Father Casey was arrested by NSW Police and was arraigned before the District Court at Lismore in 2016 on an indictment that charged 27 counts, relating to 18 allegations of child sexual abuse. Father Casey pleaded not guilty to the charges which involved molesting three boys on four separate occasions when each had stayed with him at the Mallanganee Presbytery, west of Casino. The jury returned verdicts of not guilty in respect of 16 counts and was unable to agree on the balance of 11 (hung counts) as it is reported that they had found a significant portion of the evidence to be unreliable. However, in 2018, Father Casey was arraigned again before the District Court on an indictment that charged the remaining six counts which had not been stayed by the original judge in 2016. On 14 August 2018 when the Crown case had closed, the trial judge directed a verdict of not guilty in respect of count 3. On 30 August 2018 the jury returned verdicts of guilty to counts 1 and 4 and not guilty to counts 2 and 5. The jury was unable to reach a verdict with respect to count 6. On 30 October 2018, the Father Casey was sentenced to a term of imprisonment commencing on 30 May 2018 for 4 years and 10 months with a non-parole period of 3 years. The non-parole period due expired on 29 May 2021 and the total term will expire on 29 March 2023. No application was given for leave to appeal against the sentence.
Moody Law has in the past represented a client against the Catholic Diocese of Lismore over allegations of sexual and physical abuse by Father Casey and is currently representing another client involving further allegations of sexual abuse against Father Casey.
We invite former victims of Father John Patrick Casey to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.
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