Laurie Maher child sex abuse charges: Coast Shelter ‘dismayed’
A charity once headed by a man now accused of several child sex offences has said it is dismayed at the charges. Laurie Maher faces 13 charges relating to his time working at a training school in the 70s and 80s.
Central Coast
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A Central Coast charity formerly headed up by alleged child sex offender Laurie Maher says it is “dismayed” by the charges.
Maher, the former Mayor of Gosford, was chief executive of Coast Shelter for 25 years until his retirement in 2018.
The North Gosford-based homeless service released a statement on Tuesday after it was revealed he had been charged with 13 offences relating to the alleged sexual abuse of boys at Mt Penang Training School in the late 1970s and the 1980s.
“Coast Shelter has expressed dismay over criminal charges against its former CEO, Laurie Maher,” the charity said in a statement.
“Mr Maher finished as CEO of Coast Shelter in 2018.
“It is business as usual at Coast Shelter, which specialises in supporting homeless and vulnerable people in the community.
“Coast Shelter is unable to provide further comment, given that the matter is before the court.”
A spokesman for the charity said the allegations predated Mr Maher’s involvement with the service.
The 81-year-old was excused from appearing at Penrith Local Court this week after being charged with four counts of buggery, three counts of indecent assault on a male and six counts of sexual assault without consent on March 5.
Mr Maher’s legal team unsuccessfully applied to have his name suppressed in media reports, claiming it would result in “undue embarrassment and distress” and potentially damage the shelter’s reputation.
Citing affidavits tendered to the court from the shelter and Maher’s family, defence barrister Paul Rossa said the fallout from the allegations being made public was expected to be significant.
“The publicity he will suffer will be of an unusual degree,” Mr Rossa said.
“We say he has a very high profile – he was the mayor of Gosford for some years.
“The accused is very publicly identifiable, even after entering full-time retirement in 2018.
“The potential for harm to persons and activities of great public utility could be compromised if he is named.”
Shelter director Gavin Shepherd and vice president Michael Goodwin tendered affidavits to the court expressing their concerns about possible reputational damage to the charity as a result of its links to Mr Maher.
News Corp challenged the suppression order with barrister Dauid Sibtain describing the evidence provided by the defence in seeking the order as “hopelessly inadequate”.
“Embarrassment to a party or a witness has never been grounds for the granting of a suppression order.”
He added: “Concerns about the reputation of a charity has never been the basis for the granting of a non-publication order.
“A fundamental consideration must be given to open justice.”
Magistrate Margaret McGlynn rejected the suppression order and said there was no evidence to suggest the charity would be affected by the allegations levelled against its former chief executive.
Maher was elected to Gosford City Council in 2004 and was mayor in 2007 until 2012.
In 2010 he was awarded with an Order of Australia for his service to the community through social welfare and local government.
He is the ninth person charged as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged historical child abuse.
The case will return to court on June 19.