{"id":274493,"date":"2026-02-09T00:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T00:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274493\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T00:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T00:25:09","slug":"priest-admitted-sexual-abuse-nearly-20-years-ago-church-sent-him-overseas-without-notifying-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/274493\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest admitted sexual abuse nearly 20 years ago, church sent him overseas without notifying police"},"content":{"rendered":"

RNZ also revealed that the Society of Mary was made aware of allegations against the priest nearly 20 years ago<\/a>. The religious order was unable to verify the allegations from the anonymous complainant, but removed Donoghue from public ministry and enacted a \u201csafety plan\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to further questions by RNZ a Society of Mary spokesperson said a complaint alleging offending by Father Donoghue was received by the priest via an anonymous Hotmail account in October 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe advised Society of Mary administration and in a conversation with leaders of the Society of Mary, Donoghue admitted that he was guilty of abuse but could not identify the complainant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was removed from his ministry as a priest immediately. This permanent removal from ministry and subsequent ongoing monitoring has continued to the present day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said the society contacted the anonymous emailer \u201cencouraging him to identify himself\u201d and make a complaint to the police so the matter could be properly investigated, and he might receive appropriate support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose attempts to connect with and support the victim, made over many months, were unsuccessful and so no complaint could be made by the society to the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonoghue was sent for a six-month programme to Encompass, an institute in Australia that provided professional risk assessment and therapy for those accused of sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons told RNZ police were unable to comment on processes of other organisations and their decision-making and whether they decide to call the police but that police encouraged people to do so if they had information they believed could be relevant to any investigation or suspected offending.<\/p>\n

In response to earlier questions from RNZ, a Teaching Council spokesperson said in general, the council did not comment on complaints or mandatory reports to the council.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, given the level of public interest, we can confirm that we have been working closely with New Zealand Police since early 2025 in support of their investigation into offending by Mr Donoghue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legal requirement for mandatory reporting to the New Zealand Teachers Council<\/a> (now the Teaching Council) relating to the dismissal, resignation under investigation, serious misconduct, competence concerns, or specified convictions of teachers was first inserted into the Education Act 1989 by the Education Standards Act 2001 to protect the safety of children and young people in our education system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now the criminal process had concluded, the council\u2019s professional disciplinary process would resume.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis process will include consideration of whether obligations have been met to report conduct or competence concerns to the council that were known at the time, and appropriate action depending on the findings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked who the disciplinary process would look at, the spokesperson said the council would \u201clook into the actions of everyone involved\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to ensuring the safety of children and young people and the quality of teaching in our education system, and we encourage anyone who has concerns about the conduct or competence of a formally registered teacher to reach out to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

St Bede\u2019s College rector Jon McDowall earlier told RNZ the details outlined through the court process were \u201cdeeply disturbing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs rector, it makes me feel sick to think that young people entrusted to an adult\u2019s care were abused in this way. I am deeply sorry that this happened to them, and my thoughts are with the victims and survivors who continue to live with the impact of that harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDowall said the school had worked openly with police throughout the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to co-operate fully with the authorities should any further information come to light.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbuse has no place at St Bede\u2019s \u2013 past, present, or future. The college has an established policy in place to respond and support victims of historical abuse, alongside safeguarding policies and practices to protect the wellbeing and safety of students today. Our focus remains on providing a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDowall extended an open invitation for victims in the case, and others who may have been affected, or anyone with concerns to contact him directly.<\/p>\n

In early 2023, police were contacted about the allegations of sexual abuse by Donoghue<\/a> in relation to his time at St Bede\u2019s College.<\/p>\n

St Patrick\u2019s Silverstream rector Rob Ferreira told RNZ the school had not been made aware of any allegations of abuse in care while Donoghue worked at the school between 1982 to 1992.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not had any inquiries from the police either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe operate according to clearly set out guidelines and best practice and you should note that our primary concern is the wellbeing of our students. Given that \u2013 our protection of the privacy and any other rights of survivors of abuse and other individuals would be paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the school had informed the community that Donoghue\u2019s name suppression had lifted.<\/p>\n

St Patrick\u2019s College Wellington rector Mike Savali confirmed to RNZ that Donoghue was on the college staff from 2003 to 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RNZ also revealed that the Society of Mary was made aware of allegations against the priest nearly 20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2327,1903,5811,24752,12897,16718,11692,111,43,139,154840,69,3236,675,17041,13743,17703,15768,1339,1530],"class_list":["post-274493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-2327","tag-abuse","tag-admitted","tag-ago","tag-church","tag-him","tag-nearly","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-notifying","tag-nz","tag-overseas","tag-police","tag-priest","tag-sent","tag-sexual","tag-sherwood","tag-without","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}