ETAN condemns child abuse committed by a British Timor-Leste supporter

Contact: John M. Miller, Coordinator ETAN, +1-917-690-4391
Rev. Elice Higginbotham, +1-646-245-5830

April 12, 2022

ETAN is deeply disturbed to learn that Father Patrick Smythe was recently convicted by Leeds Crown Court(UK)  for "historic sex offences against boys in his care," according to the Yorkshire Post. On April 7, the court sentenced him to seven and a half years for six counts of indecent assault and a single count of attempted indecent assault against English children.

"We are shocked and embarrassed that a member of the international Timor-Leste solidarity movement has committed such crimes," said ETAN Coordinator John M. Miller.

"ETAN strongly condemns all forms of sexual abuse and expresses our continuing solidarity with the victims of sexual abuse around the world," he added.

"We know how difficult it is for victims of child sexual abuse to speak out anywhere, especially against a respected leader in the community. We stand with the courageous survivors whose witness helps to stop sexual abuse and build a safer future for everyone."

ETAN is worried that Father Smythe may also have abused Timorese children, although no one has yet come forward with accusations about his behavior in Timor-Leste. According to news reports, he told police that he regularly traveled to Timor-Leste over a period of 10 years and was in contact with children of a similar age to those he molested in England. His admission "caused the police and the prosecution some considerable concern,"  according to the prosecutor.

Father Smythe was a supporter of Timor-Leste's independence and in 2004 published a book called The Heaviest Blow - the Catholic Church and the East Timor Issue.
 
In 2016, Father Smythe wrote a fund appeal for ETAN, echoing many in expressing his thanks for ETAN's information services. Since learning of Father Smythe's conviction, ETAN has taken down his appeal from its website and will make a financial contribution to an organization working to support victims of sexual abuse.
 
"Until this week, ETAN had no inkling that Father Smythe had abused children. If we had, we would not have worked with him or accepted his support," said ETAN Board President Rev. Elice Higginbotham. "Charity and acts of solidarity can not be used as veils for criminal abuse."

Anyone in Timor-Leste with information about possible abuse committed by Father Smythe or others may contact the Timor-Leste Office of Public Prosecution, JU,S Juridico Social or ALFeLa. 

"We know how difficult it is for victims of child sexual abuse to speak out anywhere, especially against a respected leader in the community. We stand with the courageous survivors whose witness helps to stop sexual abuse and build a safer future for everyone," said ETAN board member Pam Sexton. 

Fr. Smythe's conviction adds to the thousands of cases of civil and criminal sexual abuse against Catholic priests around the world. A Timor-Leste court recently convicted defrocked American priest Richard Daschbach for sexually assaulting young girls under his care in an orphanage he ran in Oecusse and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. Daschbach has appealed his conviction, and his victims have filed an appeal for a longer sentence.  

ETAN is an international solidarity group formed in the U.S. in 1991 to support the East Timorese struggle for self-determination. Today, it works to support justice and human rights for Timor-Leste, West Papua and Indonesia. www.etan.org

see also ETAN: Sexual Abuse Case an Opportunity for Justice and Healing/Kazu Abuzu Seksuál mak Oportunidade ba Justisa no Hadi'a-an (March 2021)

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ETAN kondena abuzu hasoru labarik sira ne'ebé apoiante Timor-Leste nian husi Inglaterra halo

Kontaktu: Pamela Sexton +1-831-768-8446 (English and Tetun)

12 Abríl 2022

ETAN triste tebetebes bainhira hetan informasaun katak Padre Patrick Smythe halo "krime seksuál istóriku kontra labarik mane sira iha ninia mahon," tuir jornál Yorkshire Post kona-ba Smythe nia kondenasaun foin daudaun husi Tribunal Leeds Crown iha Inglaterra.  Iha loron-7 fulan-abril, Tribunal kondena nia ba kastigu prizaun tinan 7 no fulan 6 ba krime violénsia seksuál ba dala 6 no tentativa krime violénsia seksuál ida; krime hotu sira-ne'e kontra labarik sira Inglaterra nian.

"Ami hakfodak no moe rona katak membru movimentu solidariedade internasionál halo krime sira ne'e, hato'o John Miller, Koordenadór ETAN nian.

ETAN kondena maka'as forma hotu abuzu seksuál no espresa ami-nia solidariedade nafatin ba vítima abuzu seksuál iha mundu tomak.

ETAN preokupa posibilidade katak Padre Smythe karik abuza mós labarik Timoroan, maske to'o agora seidauk hatene kona-ba alegasaun-ba ninia hahalok iha Timor-Leste.  Tuir notísia sira, Smythe dehan ba polísia katak nia baibain halo viajen ba Timor-Leste durante periodu tinan 10 nian no halo enkontru ho labarik sira ho idade hanesan sira ne'ebé nia abuza iha Inglaterra. Ninia testemuñu "rezulta polísia no prokuradória atu sente preokupasaun boot," tuir prokuradór. 

Padre Smythe maka apoiante ba Timor-Leste nia independénsia no iha tinan 2004, nia publika livru ho títulu The Heaviest Blow - the Catholic Church and the East Timor Issue (Tuku ne'ebé forte liu - Igreja Katólika no Kestaun Timor-Leste).

Iha tinan 2016, Padre Smythe hakerek karta apoiu ba ETAN hodi ajuda rekolla osan. Ninia karta, hanesan ema barak seluk nian, agradese ETAN ba servisu hafahe informasaun. Dezde hatene kona-ba konviksaun Padre Smythe nian, ETAN hatún ninia karta husi ETAN nia sítiu web, no sei kontribui osan ba organizasaun ne'ebe apoia vítima sira abuzu seksuál nian.

"To'o semana ida ne'e, ETAN nunka rona katak Padre Smythe abuza labarik sira. Karik ami hatene uluk, ami nunka serbisu ho nia ka simu ninia apoiu," hato'o Elice Higginbotham, Prezidente ba ETAN nia Konsellu Diretivu. "Karidade no aktu solidariedade la bele hetan uza nu'udar hena hodi subar abuzu kriminál."

Karik iha ema ho informasaun sobre posibilidade katak Padre Smythe halo abuzu iha Timor-Leste, bele halo kontaktu ho Timor-Leste nia Prokuradória Jerál ( +6703331165), JU,S Jurídico Social (+67077770803; +67078281118) ka ALFeLa (Hamahon +67077432121).

"Ita hatene katak susar tebes ba vítima abuzu seksuál hasoru labarik atu ko'alia sai, liuliu kontra lider ne'ebé hetan respeitu iha komunidade. Ami hamutuk ho vítima sira no louva sira nia barani; sira nia testemuñu mak ajuda hodi hapara abuzu seksuál no konstrui futuru ida-ne'ebé seguru liu ba ita hotu," dehan Pam Sexton, Membru Konsellu ETAN nian.

Padre Smythe nia kondenasaun tama parte husi kazu sira rihun ba rihun iha mundu, sivil no kriminál, kontra padre Katlika ne'ebé halo abuzu seksuál. Foin daudaun tribunal iha Timor-Leste kondena eis-padre Richard Daschbach ba tinan 12 iha prizaun tanba abuzu seksuál hasoru labarik-feto ne'ebé nia tau-matan ba iha Oecusse. Daschbach halo rekursu ba ninia desizaun no vítima sira mós halo rekursu hodi ezije kastigu todan liután.

ETAN mak grupu solidariedade internasionál ne'ebé hamriik iha EUA iha tinan 1991 hodi fó apoiu ba Timor-Leste nia luta ba auto-determinasaun. Agora, ETAN serbisu ba justisa no direitus umanus iha Timor-Leste, Papua Oeste no Indonesia. www.etan.org

Hare mós ETAN: Kazu Abuzu Seksuál mak Oportunidade ba Justisa no Hadi'a-an (Marsu 2021)