A FORMER Mount Gambier church minister who indecently assaulted nine young boys in the mid 1980s has been jailed for three years.
The charges relate to the minister indecently assaulting nine boys when they were teenagers in the period from approximately February 1982 to December 1985.
At the time of the offending, he was the minister in the Mount Gambier Presbyterian Church.
Michael Stuart Grieve, 74, will serve a non-parole period of one year after being sentenced for nine indecent assault charges in the Adelaide District Court on Wednesday.
He befriended adolescent boys with what he claimed was a purpose to help them since they were from dysfunctional families.
Grieve would take them out into the pine forests and let them drive his car.
In between driving, the defendant would lay a boy across his knee and spank them with his hands.
Sometimes Grieve would make the boys lower their pants so he could hit them on the bare flesh.
At the time of the offending, some of the boys noticed the defendant had an erection and the court heard he would sometimes disappear into the pine forest for a period of time after the assaults.
Judge Gordon Barrett said throughout the course of the conduct it became clear to some of the boys what was going on.
“They just complied so they could continue driving your car,” Judge Barrett said.
“Some of the boys realised that you were smacking them for a sexual purpose, but others had no idea what you were up to.”
The offending did not come to the attention of police until 2016 and Grieve conceded when interviewed that he “probably did get an erection at times”.
Judge Barrett said the offences were a gross breach of trust.
“You abused your position as a minister of religion,” Judge Barrett said.
“You said at one stage of your interview that you were taking dysfunctional kids from dysfunctional families and taking them out for a drive – you were choosing vulnerable individuals.”
While some of the boys were able to put the actions of Grieve behind them, some victims produced statements that they had been affected mentally and emotionally for the rest of their lives.
“In the offending before me, you were, in my view, inducing the boys into your company by giving them the chance to drive your car,” Judge Barrett said.
“In that sense, in my view, you were preying upon the present victims.”
Judge Barrett sentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment with a one year non-parole period and discounted the sentence by a year due to guilty pleas.
“I appreciate that there has been a long delay in these proceedings coming to light, but for all that time you have been free to live your life without there being any drastic consequences of your offending,” Judge Barrett said.
“In my view the offending is too serious for the sentence to be suspended or for you to be able to serve it on home detention.”
