Key facts
- Lawyers advised keeping a serial offender out of legal processes due to his honesty.
- The offender's honesty could implicate senior church officials.
- The Marist Brothers face civil claims from survivors.
- Carroll & O’Dea, representing the Marist Brothers, must now cease its representation due to a conflict of interest.
- The trial involving survivor CQ has been halted.
Lawyers from Carroll & O’Dea, representing the Marist Brothers, have been subpoenaed to explain a 2009 document advising the Catholic order to keep a serial offender, Brother Kostka Chute, away from legal processes. The letter suggested Chute's honesty could implicate senior church officials. The case involves survivor CQ, who alleges abuse by Chute in 1985 and 1986 at Marist College Canberra. Chute is a serial offender with multiple abuse complaints across Marist schools. The firm's involvement has led to a conflict of interest, forcing Carroll & O’Dea to cease representing the Marist Brothers and halting the ongoing trial.