Kostka (aka John) Chute, a serial paedophile Marist brother who molested dozens of boys in Canberra between 1987 and 1993, was given accommodation by the church in an ACT aged care facility close to three schools on his release from prison in 2010.
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Chute, whose good behaviour bond expired last month, is 82 and lives in a retirement village in NSW.
Documents released through the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse reveal concerns arose about his presence in the Canberra aged care facility in July 2012.
“I received a call on July 11, 2012, from (name withheld) who was very concerned that John Chute was in the (name withheld) aged care units,” former Marist Brothers provincial, Brother Alexis Turton, wrote in a memorandum to the Catholic Education Office.
“This residence is a few hundred yards from the Catholic school up the road and about 700 metres from (name withheld) primary with a government school further away again.”
Brother Alexis, who had stood by Chute at his trial, said the disgraced Marist brother had been recognised by the daughter of another resident who was also the parent of a former Marist student.
“She then went to the principal of a nearby non-Catholic school and contacted Bishop Pat Power,” Brother Alexis wrote.
“Her contact with Pat Power was by email. Pat Power himself went to notify the principal of the local Catholic school as well.”
Brother Alexis said Bishop Power had told both principals he felt “JC (Chute) was secure where he was, did not present a risk to other people and had been through a full risk assessment with the local authorities and the Brothers”.
Brother Alexis said the woman who had made the original report accepted this.
“(She) said she really had probably overreacted and agreed that JC did not constitute a risk.”
He did say, however, that when the woman had contacted him “she was extremely concerned about the presence of JC and the proximity of the schools.
“She also indicated that students from the Catholic school would occasionally visit the aged care units.”
Brother Alexis, who has admitted to dispatching another paedophile, Gregory Sutton, to Canada within days of a police investigation into his activities being launched, wrote there were concerns Chute’s whereabouts might be leaked to the media.
“The other concern of the Catholic Education Office director regarding the media was one which always remains a possibility given the nature of issues such as this,” he wrote.
“There is no indication at this stage though that contact regarding JC’s residence at (name suppressed) has been made with the media or will be made by the lady who made the initial contact.”
Brother Alexis noted Chute was (at the time) “80-years-of-age, handicapped and has been classified as minimal risk to children”.
Despite this he was on the move again in just on six months, relocating to a NSW retirement village on February 15, 2013.
It is understood he has not moved since then.
