Australian priest accused of child molest now in Sarawak in search of ‘young Asian men’

KUALA LUMPUR — A Catholic priest from Australia, who was suspended for allegedly abusing two boys, is now residing in Sarawak and in search of “young Asian men”, the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported today (Feb 10).

The Australian daily said that the priest, one Father Peter Grasby, moved to Kuching while on paid leave and is currently using a gay dating website “Planetromeo”, with his profile having been viewed some 7,907 times.

“Father Grasby says on his profile that he is a 66-year-old Catholic who ‘happens to like younger Asian men’ aged from 18 to 35 but is ‘not on here looking for sex…’

“The profile also lists details about his genitals and sexual preferences, and he describes himself as a ‘well-educated and really soft-hearted mature GWM [gay white male]’” the SMH reported.

Grasby, the former parish priest at St Mary Magdalen in Victoria, was accused in 2012 of abusing two boys aged 10 and 14 some 30 years ago and subsequently put on “administrative leave”.

The Victorian parliamentary inquiry also accused Grasby of “surrounding himself with a concerning number of young Vietnamese boys” while at St Mary Magdalen as well as for “allowing boys to sleep in his former presbytery at St Michael’s in North Melbourne”.

Neighbours and former parishioners also voiced concerns about Grasby as he allowed young homeless men to sleep with him at St Michael’s presbytery.

Director of the In Good Faith Foundation, an organisation which provides support for “victims of church-related abuse,” Ms Helen Last told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse cases by religious organisations that there have long been concerns about Grasby during the 2000s.

“I had people coming to me, telling me — knocking on my door and telling me — that he had too many young men coming in and out of the presbytery and actually sleeping there — and other things.

“Whilst I was being told that, he was suddenly removed from North Melbourne and put in the St Patrick’s Cathedral presbytery, where many men who are not behaving well spend quite a lot of time because it is very close to the administration systems, and they can be closely watched,” SMH quoted her as saying.

Reuters reported last September that that priests had sexually abused children and bishops had covered up their actions emerged in 2002 in the United States and in other countries several years later.

The scandal damaged the Catholic Church worldwide, eroding its moral authority and requiring costly legal settlements.

During his visit to the US, Pope Francis offered his most comprehensive comments on the sexual abuse scandal in his 2-1/2 year papacy and used his strongest language yet in condemning it and promising that “all responsible will be held accountable”. MALAY MAIL ONLINE