Prolific paedophilic priest sentenced again over abusing girl on way to Pilbara beach
A priest who worked in the eastern states and Western Australia has been sentenced to more prison time for raping a teenage girl on her way to a remote beach in the state’s Pilbara region in the 1970s.
Adrian Van Klooster was previously jailed for possessing child abuse material and abusing children in his care while working as a vicar in Bunbury, and appeared in the WA District Court again on Wednesday for a string of new offences.
Van Klooster was found guilty of four offenses against children following a three-day trial earlier this month for crimes that occurred in the north of the state in 1978.
The vicar worked outside Wickham and lived in a house attached to the church. He would allow the children to spend time on the property.
The 11-year-old victim, Van Klooster, who was 35 at the time, once sat on the teenage girl’s lap and let her steer the car while they were driving to Cossack Beach.
The court was told Van Klooster raped her once in the car and “reassured her everything would be okay”.
When they reached the quiet beach, he raped the girl once again and told her once again that he “won’t hurt her.”
But at sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Wendy Hughes said she realized the incident the girl could remember was actually a case of abuse. Hughes said evidence at Van Klooster’s trial showed his crimes against the girl were committed more than once.
“I convict you, Mr Van Klooster, on the grounds that this was not a one-off or isolated incident, but that there were other incidents where you sexually assaulted the victim, including inside your home, at Cossack Beach and on the way to Roebourne,” he said.
“This is also serious because there was a large age gap between you and the victim, over 25 years. It is also serious because you were in a position of trust as the local priest, not only did the victim trust you because of your position and standing in the community, but other people also trusted you to have access to their children and allowed the children to be alone with you.”
Hughes said Van Klooster’s offending lasted for at least six months in 1978 and 1979 and was “persistent and repetitive”.
He said the victim, now in his 60s, had suffered irreparable damage following the attack and now refused to get close to anyone to avoid the “attack”.
Hughes sentenced Van Klooster, now 84, to two years and 10 months in prison and said he should take his age into account as a mitigating factor.
Van Klooster had previously been convicted of similar charges and had worked in Wollongong, Australind, Bunbury and Geraldton.
