Two Catholic priests alleged to have sexually abused multiple young children in Northern Tasmania regularly removed students from classrooms, witnesses say.
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Father Thomas Bresnehan and Father Harold Buckley were also known to take those same children on weekend fishing trips.
Both served at the Catholic parish at George Town and are alleged to have sexually abused children at the Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Primary School.
A former student of the school recently came forward with historical abuse claims against the priests, which led to a call-out for any information about the school between the years of 1974 to 1982.
A 'handful' of victim-survivors have since come forward with their own allegations against the priests.
Witnesses come forward about alleged sexual abuse
Lawyer Maurice Blackburn associate Zoe Papageorgiou said these victim-survivors also had quite significant sexual abuse allegations, particularly against Father Bresnehan.
She said there had been a strong response to the information call-out and that she had seen a collective strength in the community in coming forward to assist.
"Not only did survivors come forward, but eyewitnesses from the school parish are saying that they recall the priests taking boys out of the classroom and that this was quite a regular practice," Ms Papageorgiou said.
"They would take children from the classroom during school hours, and it was also known, particularly [one of the priests], would take those students on weekend fishing trips."
Civil claim for historical child sexual abuse
Ms Papageorgiou's client was around 12 years old when the alleged abuse occurred in the church sacristy at George Town, which is a room where priests change into their robes and holy objects are kept.
She said her client reported the abuse to Tasmania Police but was unable to pursue criminal claims due to both priests being dead.
A civil claim is being prepared in relation to the historical child abuse allegations.
"We are very grateful to the community for all the call-ins. It has supported our existing client's claim by building evidence which is extremely valuable, particularly with historical abuse," she said.
"Historical documents are very hard to come by, so we rely on the community response to really clarify what exactly happened and what was known to the community at the time."
Support is available for those who may be distressed:
- Statewide Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1800 697 877; Lifeline 13 11 14; Men's Referral Service 1300 776 491; beyondblue 1300 224 636; Blue Knot Foundation 1300 657 380
