William John Obbens: former Christian brother charged with historic assault of St Patrick’s College, Goulburn student
A convicted sex offender and former Christian brother will be sentenced for historic sex abuse on a young boy at a boarding school. Warning: Graphic content
The Bowral News
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A former Christian brother convicted of vile historic sex attacks on students at a Goulburn boarding school is set to be sentenced for the abuse of a child.
William John Obbens, 76, appeared at Goulburn District Court on Thursday to be sentenced for two counts of sexual assault (cat 4) indecent assault of person under 16 after pleading guilty on an earlier occasion.
The court has previously heard the Sydney man had been jailed for similar offending in the past, serving a three-year prison sentence which ended in 2019 for indecently assaulting three students of St Patrick’s College, Goulburn, in the 1980s.
Another victim who was indecently assaulted by Obbens in the same time period reported the incident to police more recently.
Court documents state Obbens was a Christian brother, boarding master and teacher at St Patrick’s, with his room on the same level as the boys’ dormitory.
The victim, who was aged 11 and 12 at the time of the offending, was a boarding school student who had sought permission from Obbens, then 44, to see the school nurse for his sore testicles.
The agreed facts state Obbens, then aged 44, shut the door and told the victim to pull down his pants and “show” where he was sore.
Obbens then felt the victim’s testicles, asked where the pain was and stroked the victim’s penis.
According to court documents the victim stepped back and pulled up his pants. Obbens tried to justify his actions to the boy by saying “I just need to check you before you go to the nurse”.
The victim did not report the crime because he was extremely fearful of getting in trouble or that it would happen again, the agreed facts stated.
Documents state the abuse against the victim happened over a six-month period between January and June in 1989, with the second offence occurring when the child was in bed.
Crown prosecutor Caitlin Murphy called Obbens going into the boy’s room at night “extremely predatory.”
Court documents state the victim was woken up by Obbens who said he wanted to chat.
Not wanting to get in trouble, the boy complied and sat on Obbens’ bed.
The agreed facts reveal Obbens put his hand down the front of the boy’s pyjamas and felt his penis and testicles, claiming he was checking to see if he had no further pain.
According to documents, the victim said he was fine and moved Obbens’ hand away, leaving the room to then sit in the dorm bathroom all night, as he felt it was the only place where he would be safe.
In 1989, Obbens was found guilty of offences against other year eight male students in the same time period and was told by court he had to be on good behaviour, otherwise he would get a $100 fine, documents state. The next year he was allowed to move to another school.
The victim was prompted to speak out in 2020 after watching a TV program with his wife which involved survivors speaking out about sexual abuse by members of the church.
As a result, he reported the matter to police and Obbens was arrested on February 19 2021.
Obbens’ lawyer Peter Skinner argued “specific deterrence was already imposed” with his previous jail sentence and therefore a sentence of imprisonment should not be carried out.
“Since he expressed remorse, has some great character references, one from a commissioner of police – people he’s helped – and hasn’t committed any further crimes since 1989,” Mr Skinner said.
Though Ms Murphy argued that the totality of offences is more important than the timeline.
“Yes the offences only came to light last year, but if he had been sentenced previously, there would've been a degree of accumulation,” Mr Murphy said.
With more deliberations needing to be made about the type of sentence, the matter was adjourned to the Downing Centre in Sydney.
Obbens is to be sentenced next Wednesday on February 23.
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