A priest from a prestigious Auckland school in New Zealand is accused of sexually assaulting a boy inside the school's Chapel.
The Priest later instilled fear in the mind of the boy by saying that God would punish him if he told anyone else about the abuse.
Father John Goodwin, who is now at the King's School, has been 'sent on leave' by the school authorities after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced and now faces a police enquiry into the matter.
The school, which has a majority of religiously ordained top staff, has indicated that it will fully co-operate with the police and all court hearings and revealed that Fr. Goodwin "emphatically denies" the allegations pinned up against him.
The incident had occurred during the early 2000s and the former student, an alumni of the school, came forward revealing the horrors he had to endure under the hands of the Priest who sexually assaulted him multiple times around 20 years ago.
The former student moved the Supreme Court of Tasmania seeking damages for the abuse he suffered claiming he slipped into depression and suffered mentally throughout his growing up years and found it hard to trust others.
In his complaint, the student who is now in his late 30s, alleges that Fr. Goodwin sexually assaulted him for over two weeks during lunch time and all of it occurred inside the school chapel.
He revealed that the Priest groomed him sexually to fit his lusty narrative and asked him to wear an alter boy's dress and strip naked before he began molesting him.
The complaint further reads that Fr. Goodwin started off with complimenting the boy's hair, good looks and went on stating that he would get good grades and make his parents proud and become a good lawyer in the future, only if he abides by what the priest does to him.
The plaintiff said in the complaint that the priest started giving him a shoulder massage before going further down touching his private parts and later sexually assaulted him and the incident occurred many times.
The unnamed man revealed that Fr. Goodwin told him that God would punish him and his family if he told anyone else about the abuse and asked him to keep to himself.
Lawyers representing the former pupil said to Court the plaintiff had suffered from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and had suicidal tendencies.
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