NZ News
Priest admitted sexual abuse nearly 20 years ago, church sent him overseas without notifying police
A priest admitted sexual abuse to leaders of his religious order nearly 20 years before he would be convicted of sexually abusing four boys, RNZ can reveal.
However, at the time in 2007, he was unable to identify the anonymous complainant and instead of notifying police, the order sent him to Australia for a six-month programme that provided “professional risk assessment and therapy” for people accused of sexual abuse.
RNZ earlier revealed Fr Rowan Donoghue had admitted six charges including indecent assault on a boy aged 12-16, indecent assault on a boy 16 and over and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.
The offending related to four boys who were boarding at St Bede’s College in Christchurch between 1996 and 2000.
RNZ also revealed that the Society of Mary was made aware of allegations against the priest nearly 20 years ago. The religious order was unable to verify the allegations from the anonymous complainant, but removed Donoghue from public ministry and enacted a “safety plan”.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
In response to further questions by RNZ a Society of Mary spokesperson said a complaint alleging offending by Fr Donoghue was received by the priest via an anonymous Hotmail account in October 2007.
“He advised Society of Mary administration and in a conversation with leaders of the Society of Mary, Donoghue admitted that he was guilty of abuse but could not identify the complainant.
“He was removed from his ministry as a priest immediately. This permanent removal from ministry and subsequent ongoing monitoring has continued to the present day.”
The spokesperson said the society reached out to the anonymous emailer “encouraging him to identify himself” and make a complaint to the police so the matter might be properly investigated, and so that he might receive appropriate support.
Fr Rowan Donoghue pictured in the 1993 year book. Photo: RNZ
“Those attempts to connect with and support the victim, made over many months, were unsuccessful and so no complaint could be made by the Society to the police.
“Donoghue was sent for a six-month programme to Encompass, an institute in Australia that provided professional risk assessment and therapy for those accused of sexual abuse.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons told RNZ police were unable to comment on processes of other organisations and their decision making and whether they decide to call the police but that police encouraged people to do so if they have information they believe could be relevant to any investigation or suspected offending.
In response to earlier questions from RNZ, a Teaching Council spokesperson said in general, the council did not comment on complaints or mandatory reports to the council.
“However, given the level of public interest, we can confirm that we have been working closely with New Zealand Police since early 2025 in support of their investigation into offending by Mr Donoghue.
“The legal requirement for mandatory reporting to the New Zealand Teachers Council (now the Teaching Council) relating to the dismissal, resignation under investigation, serious misconduct, competence concerns, or specified convictions of teachers was first inserted into the Education Act 1989 by the Education Standards Act 2001 to protect the safety of children and young people in our education system.”
Now the criminal process had concluded, the council’s professional disciplinary process would resume.
“This process will include consideration of whether obligations have been met to report conduct or competence concerns to the council that were known at the time, and appropriate action depending on the findings.”
Asked who the disciplinary process would look at, the spokesperson said the council would “into the actions of everyone involved“.
“We are committed to ensuring the safety of children and young people and the quality of teaching in our education system, and we encourage anyone who has concerns about the conduct or competence of a formally registered teacher to reach out to us.”
St Bede’s College rector Jon McDowall earlier told RNZ the details outlined through the court process were “deeply disturbing”.
“As rector, it makes me feel sick to think that young people entrusted to an adult’s care were abused in this way. I am deeply sorry that this happened to them, and my thoughts are with the victims and survivors who continue to live with the impact of that harm.”
McDowall said the school had worked openly with police throughout the process.
“We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities should any further information come to light.
“Abuse has no place at St Bede’s – past, present, or future. The College has an established policy in place to respond and support victims of historical abuse, alongside safeguarding policies and practices to protect the wellbeing and safety of students today. Our focus remains on providing a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community.”
McDowall extended an open invitation for victims in the case, and others who may have been impacted, or anyone with concerns to contact him directly.
In early 2023, police were contacted about the allegations of sexual abuse by Donoghue in relation to his time at St Bede’s College.
St Patrick’s Silverstream rector Rob Ferreira told RNZ the school had not been made aware of any allegations of abuse in care while Fr Donoghue worked at the school between 1982 to 1992.
“We have not had any inquiries from the police either.
“We operate according to clearly set out guidelines and best practice and you should note that our primary concern is the wellbeing of our students. Given that – our protection of the privacy and any other rights of survivors of abuse and other individuals would be paramount.”
He said the school had informed the community that Donoghue’s name suppression had lifted.
St Patrick’s College Wellington rector Mike Savali confirmed to RNZ that Donoghue was on the college staff from 2003 to 2007.
Where to get help:
- If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
- If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the confidential crisis helpline Safe to Talk on 0800 044 334 or text 4334. (available 24/7)
- Male Survivors Aotearoa offers a range of confidential support at centres across New Zealand – find your closest one here.
- Men and Trauma New Zealand: 0800 636 263
- Alternatively contact your local police station
Source: RNZ
Latest News
Opportunities to mitigate multi-million-dollar RNZ budget blowout likely missed – experts
Multiple opportunities to identify and mitigate a multi-million-dollar budget blowout at RNZ appear have been missed, according to the former executive director at Audit New Zealand.
The public broadcaster on Monday revealed a near $12 million shock financial loss after a litany of financial blunders, which will now lead to sweeping job cuts.
The $11.8m loss is more than 25 times the $470,000 RNZ had expected to lose over the year to June.
CEO Paul Thompson took responsibility for the result, and said internal reports gave an inaccurate picture of the finances, meaning the scale of the loss only became clear in October.
RNZ’s former chief financial officer Hilary Parker resigned unexpectedly in early October.
The board said it would commission an independent review into what went wrong.
Independent contractor Stephen Walker, who left the Audit Office earlier this year, said the size of the loss was surprising, as was the length of time it took to identify it – months after the financial year ended.
Supplied / OAG
“Probably more of a concern is that they had seemingly been unaware that they were running up a significant deficit until they were in the preparation stage of their annual report in October.”
Walker said public entities typically produced monthly financial reports.
An interim audit also took place before the end of the financial year, he said, but if the organisation hadn’t identified significant losses at that stage, the auditor could also be in the dark.
“It seems that there’s a real weakness in forecasting and budgeting that’s occurred here and that the monthly accounts, when they’re produced, either haven’t identified these significant variances against budget or the magnitude of them really hasn’t come to light until right towards the end of the financial year,” Walker said.
“And really at that point, there’s no opportunity for the chief executive, the leadership team to take, and the board to take, any corrective action because the year has effectively been completed.”
Walker said the “significant miss” was difficult to account for given it was more than 10 percent of RNZ’s total funding.
He said based on RNZ’s annual report, financial complexity didn’t appear to be a factor.
“This $11.8m loss isn’t made up of one particular item … it seems to have been contributed to by a number of separate expense lines running over budget. So I don’t think it’s necessarily to do with complexity.”
Among the errors, RNZ wrongly counted $2m from land sales as income in its budget. Staff costs also came in $3.2m over budget, including $1.4m in redundancy payments.
Professor at Auckland University’s business school Norman Wong said based on media reports the issues identified were “significant and troubling”.
Supplied / University of Auckland
“But recognising the sale of land as income in their budget is a basic error that one would have expected to have been caught and corrected well before it got to this point.”
With funding reductions at RNZ over the past two years, Walker expected greater scrutiny of financial results.
“Virtually every public entity has had their annual budget reduced. And so you would expect … the leadership team on a monthly basis and board – I’m not sure how frequently the board will consider the information – but you would expect them to be interrogating the results on a regular basis throughout the year,” he said.
Walker said initiating an independent review was the correct course of action and that he’d want to understand what information the leadership team and the board were regularly receiving.
He said he’d “love to say” surprising financial results were rare, but conceded they occured on a semi-frequent basis during his time leading the Audit Office.
“The benefit of independent scrutiny by the Audit Office – and the auditors providing that support to the Auditor General – [is] that the reporting is fairly presented at the end of the year, whether it’s good, bad or ugly.”
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