Former school senior leader loses abuse verdicts appeal

In June last year, Damian Patrick Young was sentenced to two years, seven months imprisonment after being found guilty by a jury of sexually abusing three of his pupils. The girls were aged between six and eight.

At St Paul’s Catholic School in Dallington, he rose to senior leadership and was credited with helping keep the community together after the school was decimated in the earthquakes. But it was there – and at a second Christchurch school, which cannot be named – that he carried out abuse on the girls.

Young, in his late 50s, has always maintained his innocence even after being convicted of six charges of indecent assault – two of which were representative. He launched an appeal earlier this year, claiming Judge Jane Farish tainted the jury’s view of him at trial.

Defence lawyer Nick Chisnall KC said Judge Farish intervened six times and asked questions that supported the Crown’s case and indicated that she did not believe Young’s version of events, which was that he had no opportunity to commit the acts of which he was accused.

But the Court of Appeal judges disagreed.

“The jury could not reasonably have taken from the judge’s question that she had a view about the issue,” they said.

“The judge’s interventions . . . would not have left the jury with the impression she was biased towards the Crown or against Mr Young … there were other interventions that could arguably have been perceived to favour the defence cases.”

St Paul’s School in Dallington was the only Christchurch school to be red-zoned after it was badly damaged in the earthquakes, Stuff reported. The school was later combined with Our Lady of Fatima school on the latter’s Mairehau site, with the resulting school named St Francis of Assisi Catholic School.

Anyone who has a concern or complaint about abuse in a Catholic setting is encouraged to contact the Police or the Church’s National Office for Professional Standards on 0800 114 622.

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Deputy principal who sexually abused students blames judge for guilty verdicts (By Jake Kenny/The Press – subscription required)