More victims of former De La Salle brother come forward

A Catholic brother who admitted to abusing boys at a Brisbane school is under investigation after more alleged victims have come forward, a court has heard.

A Catholic brother who admitted to abusing boys at a Brisbane school is under investigation after more alleged victims have come forward, a court has heard.

Former De La Salle brother Frank Terrence Keating, 77, is in a Victorian jail serving time for indecently assaulting eight students during the 1970s while teaching at a Melbourne college.

Keating – known at the school as Brother Ibar – has been convicted of a litany of child sex offences committed against children in Victoria and Queensland from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.

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In September last year, the former headmaster of De La Salle College at Scarborough, now called Southern Cross Catholic College, pleaded guilty to six more charges including indecent treatment of a child, indecent dealing with a boy under 14 and indecent dealing with a boy under 17.

Police are investigating whether there were more victims of Keating while he was employed at De La Salle College Scarborough, now called Southern Cross Catholic College.

The offences occurred at the Redcliffe peninsula school between January 1981 and July, 1989.

Keating was due to be sentenced earlier this month, but at a brief mention in the Brisbane District Court on Friday it was revealed that the sentence hearing had to be delayed.

The court was told three more alleged victims from the Scarborough school had come forward and police were investigating the historic offences which allegedly dated back to the 80s.

Keating’s barrister Terry O’Gorman said a sworn statement from Queensland Police about the investigation was “vague” and it was unclear whether his client would be charged.

Mr O’Gorman said he wanted to “bring this matter to a head” because Keating would be eligible for parole in December.

“My client is aged 77 years, is in poor health, is currently serving a jail term in Victoria,” Mr O’Gorman said.

“My submission is, if the system allows complainants to come forward 20 or 30 years after the alleged event, a person in the position of my client is also entitled at the age of 77 years to have some finality.”

Judge Paul Smith ordered two detectives be cross-examined about the investigation at a hearing next month.

More than 20 years ago, Keating pleaded guilty to molesting a 13-year-old student of the Scarborough school when he was the deputy principal in the mid-80s.

The court was told the boy was a good swimmer and got to know Keating through his association with the school swimming team.

Keating has also been convicted and jailed in Victoria for abusing students.

In 1998, Keating was sentenced to three years’ jail, suspended after eight months after pleading guilty to molesting 12 boys at De La Salle Malvern in the 70s.

Keating was last before the courts in 2018 when he was sentenced to five years and three months in jail for abusing eight boys, aged 11 to 15, while at the Melbourne school.

At his sentencing hearing, Victorian County Court judge Gregory Lyon said the De La Salle order knew Keating had abused students before they moved him from Victoria to South Australia and Queensland.

“Your moves to other schools simply facilitated your predatory sexual abuse of children,” Judge Lyon said.

*For 24-hour support phone Queensland’s DVConnect on 1800 811 811 or MensLine on 1800 600 636, NSW’s Domestic Violence Line on 1800 656 463 or the national hotline 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).