Father Peter Chalk

Father Peter Chalk was a parish priest belonging the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) who served in numerous parishes/institutions in Melbourne during the 1970s and 1980s. These include the following:

• St Gerard and St Anne’s Parish (serving the suburbs of Park Orchards and Warrandyte where as parish priest he conducted a youth group made of young teenagers);

• St John the Apostle (Kippax, Canberra - assistant priest); and

• Yarra Theological College (Box Hill, Melbourne).

Numerous allegations have been made against Father Chalk whilst he was parish priest in St Gerard and St Anne’s. It has been reported that numerous victims of Father Chalk had reported such allegations to the head of the MSC Order - Father Brian Gallagher - who had acknowledged that Father Chalk had admitted abusing up to eight children during the 1970s and early 1980s in the outer-eastern Melbourne suburb of Park Orchards. Subsequently, he was asked by various victims to report the abuse and Father Chalk to Victoria Police in 1994. Father Gallagher, however, did not do so and the Order allowed Father Chalk to move to Japan in 1981. Father Chalk eventually left the Order in 1995 and became a lay teacher in the same country. Victoria Police in the end did not pursue Father Chalk or press any charges. He was, however, reported to the Department of Immigration and asked to be detained if he tried to return to Australia. Father Chalk never did so and eventually died in Japan in 2010.

Moody Law has in the past represented and is still representing clients who were sexually abused by different members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at various schools in Victoria and New South Wales.

We invite former victims 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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