Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga successfully appeals record damages to surviving victim

A historic sexual abuse settlement has been reduced by more than $1 million after a Catholic diocese successfully appealed, in part because the victim had led “a relatively successful life.”

The Victorian Supreme Court awarded victim TJ, whose real name cannot be used for legal reasons, $3.3 million in damages last November.

The compensation was for the abuse he suffered at the hands of pedophile priest Vincent Kiss in the Catholic diocese of Wagga Wagga, southern New South Wales, in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was the largest payout of its kind to an abuse survivor at the time, and the first time a civil case against the Catholic Church was heard before a jury.

However, the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga successfully appealed, reducing the payment to just over $2 million.

The diocese’s lawyer, Roisin Annelsley KC, argued that the damages awarded for TJ’s pain were “manifestly excessive”.

The top half of a cathedral. — TJ met his abuser at St Michael’s Cathedral in Wagga Wagga. (ABC News: Gary-Jon Lysaght)

“The experience and effect of the abuse on this claimant has not been destructive in nature,” she said during the appeal.

A panel of judges reduced the award for pain and suffering to $550,000, halved the interest payment and did not award exemplary damages, a type of damages used to deter others from committing similar violations.

‘A relatively successful life’

In its written judgment, the panel explained that although the abuse TJ suffered was severe, he had had an overall good quality of life and therefore his award for pain and suffering was halved.

“With the help of psychological treatment, the plaintiff subsequently managed to lead a relatively successful life, albeit not without problems,” the panel wrote.

Judge David Beach said not enough cases had been filed to maintain the exemplary damages award.

“I thought the trial was just about pain, suffering and economic loss,” he said.

“Speaking for myself, all the work on this appeal was focused on economic losses.”

A full photo of a cathedral. Cars drive by. — The compensation related to abuse in the 1960s and 1970s. (ABC News: Gary-Jon Lysaght)

TJ was originally awarded $1.1 million for his pain and suffering, $965,000 for economic costs, $1.3 million for exemplary damages and $462,000 for interest payments.

TJ met Kiss when he was 14, at Wagga Wagga’s St Michael’s Cathedral, where Kiss was a priest.

TJ previously told the ABC he had hidden the abuse for decades until, as an adult with a career in education, he saw a story about a pedophile teacher at a nearby school, which brought his trauma back to the surface.