Father Kelvin Sharkey

Father Kelvin Gerald Sharkey was born in Melbourne and trained for the priesthood at Melbourne’s Corpus Christi Seminary which has come under close scrutiny recently in relation to allegations that there have been at least 75 convicted and alleged sex offenders emerging from Corpus Christi. In 1961, Father Sharkey was ordained as a priest and starting serving in the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong in NSW. Records indicate that he served at the following parishes:

• St John Vianney’s Parish (Fairy Meadow) - late 1960s;

• Batemans Bay Parish - 1971; and

• Mary Mother of the Church Parish (Macquarie Fields and Glenfield) - 1977.

Father Sharkey ceased being a full-time parish priest by 1988. By then, he was labelled as a supplementary priest whose duties entailed casual, relieving or freelance ministry work.

In 2010, Father Sharkey aged 83, pleaded guilty to one incident of buggery and two incidents of indecent assault (indecent touching) involving an altar boy in Wollongong, beginning in 1969 when the boy was aged ten. The abuse continued on other occasions until 1975 when Father Sharkey was parish priest of St John Vianney's Church at Fairy Meadow and at St Bernard's Church at Batemans Bay. He was sentenced in the Wollongong District Court to at least 15 months' jail.

We invite former victims, students, teachers, or parents 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.