Patrician Brother and teacher Peter Higgins convicted of buggery of schoolboy in mid-1970s
A Patrician Brother and primary school teacher who hid a schoolboy inside a broom cupboard before forcefully raping him against the teacher’s desk has been convicted.
Macarthur
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A Christian brother who hid a schoolboy inside the broom cupboard of an empty classroom before pinning him against the teacher’s desk and forcefully raping him has been jailed for horrific crimes which took place nearly half a century ago.
Retired teacher Brother Peter Higgins, 81, has been convicted of buggery and two counts of indecently assaulting a boy, aged ten or 11, at Patrician Brothers Catholic School, now All Saints, in Liverpool in the mid-1970s.
The victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was singled out on more than one occasion and guided, with a hand on his shoulder, into the broom cupboard of an empty classroom once the end-of-day school bell had rung.
When the students had left, Higgins would let the boy out and tell him that he was a “good boy” who needed to be “punished”. On the first occasion, the teacher pulled out his penis and told him to “pat it like a dog” before convincing him to tell his parents he was late home because of detention.
On another occasion after the school bell had rung and students left for the day, the paedophile Brother promised the boy to help him with his grades before placing the young hand on his penis.
On a final occasion, the boy was pinned down and raped against the teacher’s desk until school principal Brother Basil Downey entered the empty classroom to witness the child wriggling and screaming in pain.
Brother Downey, who was charged with accessory after the fact to buggery before his death in 2017, told the victim to leave the classroom and yelled at Higgins.
Brother Downey took the boy home and explained to his mum that her son had fallen over and hurt his backside.
The victim suffered in silent torment for about 30 years before he revealed the horror to his family, and later the Catholic Church.
Judge Jennifer English, who ruled over the judge-alone trial, described Higgins actions as targeted and “particular heinous”.
“The consequences for this victim has been enormous,” she said. “(Higgins) would be under no illusion as to the harm he has caused to this man.”
“He used his position of authority over this victim to ensure his silence.”
Higgins was sentenced on September 13 this year to seven and a half years jail. He will be eligible for parole in November 2022.
A notice of intention to appeal has been filed, with Higgins’ barrister Peter Skinner saying his client would fight the conviction. The Central Coast man maintains he is innocent of the charges.