Jailed pedophile ex-priest stripped of law credentials

Peter Andrew Hansen was jailed in June 2021 for at least 14 years on 31 charges of producing child pornography in Vietnam and the Philippines, distributing child exploitation material and engaging in sexual activity with nine boys.

The chief clerk of the NSW Supreme Court applied in April to have Hansen struck off the law register and barred from practising due to his crimes.

In a joint judgment handed down on Tuesday, Justices Fabian Gleeson, Jeremy Kirk and John Basten declared Hansen was not a fit and proper person to remain on the roll of Australian lawyers and ordered his name be removed.

"It is not appropriate that a practitioner remain on the roll whilst in custody," they said.

The judges considered Hansen's physical and mental health and his ability to reliably practise law by the time of his release at age 75, but it was his conduct that sealed the decision.

"The repeated and prolonged exploitation of young boys in Vietnam and in the Philippines, who were between the ages of 10 and 14, demonstrates such a serious deficiency of character as to render (Hansen) currently and for the foreseeable future a person who is not a fit and proper person to be a legal practitioner," they said.

Hansen did not oppose the orders and was forced to pay the Supreme Court's legal costs.

The former Melbourne priest was arrested in October 2018 after police located a hard drive containing child sexual exploitation material when he arrived at Sydney Airport from Vietnam.

Further charges were added following a police investigation in the Philippines relating to sexual offences committed in 2016 involving nine male victims between the ages of 10 and 14.

A police search of Hansen's home led to the discovery of more abuse material dating back to April 2014.

Hansen was a Catholic priest in the Melbourne Archdiocese until he resigned in 2011.

He was sentenced to a full term of 19 years and will be eligible for parole in October 2032.

Australian Associated Press