Simon Humble

Simon Humble in 2005

 

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/risotto-king-simon-humble-jailed-for-five-years-for-underage-sex-crimes/story-e6frea73-1226276911249?fb_ref=rec-bot&fb_source=home_multiline

‘Risotto king’ Simon Humble jailed for five years for underage sex crimes

• by: By Norrie Ross
• From: Herald Sun
• February 21, 2012 10:45AM

A JUDGE described a top chef who preyed on vulnerable underage girls as “disgraceful and shameful” as she jailed him today for five years.

Judge Felicity Hampel said Simon Humble, 50, not only paid girls as young as 14 for sex but he also used them to try and procure other underage girls by offering inducements such as paying their mobile phone bills.

Judge Hampel said one of the girls was a ward of the state, a heroin addict with an abusive boyfriend and she believed she may have been as young as 13 or 14 when she first had sex for money with Humble.

Humble, who was once dubbed “the risotto king” worked in high-class Melbourne restaurants such as Caffe e Cucina and Il Bacaro, and was once a co-owner of Tutto Bene in Southbank.

In her County Court sentence Judge Hampel said there was a significant power imbalance between Humble and the girls and he chose them as victims because he knew they were vulnerable and unlikely to make a complaint about his behaviour.

“You exploited their vulnerability for your sexual gratification,” the judge said.

“You were treating them as no more than objects for your sexual gratification.”

Humble, of Rosanna, was found guilty by a jury of three counts each of sexually penetrating two girls aged under 16 and he pleaded guilty to three counts of making child pornography and using a carriage service to access child pornography.

Judge Hampel said a psychiatrist told the court that Humble had a sexual preference for sexually mature girls who were underage but he was also able to maintain a normal sexual relationship.

She said that Humble trawled the streets of St Kilda looking for girls and when he found a victim he would then persuade her to recruit other girls.

The judge said she did not accept the offences were less serious because there was no violence or abuse of trust and she said Humble tried to rationalise his behaviour by blaming his victims.

She set a maximum term of seven years and said Humble’s name would be placed on the sex offenders’ register.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/risotto-king-had-sex-with-underage-girls-20120214-1t3q9.html

‘Risotto king’ had sex with underage girls

February 14, 2012 – 4:37PM

A Melbourne chef, once known as the risotto king, sexually exploited vulnerable underage girls using his age, power and money, a court has heard.

Victorian County Court Judge Felicity Hampel said the power imbalance between Simon Humble, 50, and his two victims, aged 13 and 14, was an aggravating feature of his crimes.

Judge Hampel made the comments during a pre-sentence hearing for Humble, who paid the victims for sexual acts between January 2008 and August 2010.

She said the victims were particularly vulnerable, including one who was in state care, and for this reason the offending was even more serious.

Humble had also tried to procure other vulnerable teens for sex through his victims, she said.

Her comments were in response to defence lawyer Sean Cash, who had argued there was a lack of aggravating factors in Humble’s crimes because there was no evidence of violence, pain, humiliation or embarrassment.

He also said there was no grooming or unprotected sex involved.

Mr Cash told the hearing Humble worked at several well-known Melbourne restaurants including Il Bacaro, Caffe e Cucina and Scusa Mi before opening Southbank’s Tutto Bene in 2004.

In their victim impact statements read to the court, the teenagers said they had almost no support from their families and friends following the incidents.

One victim said when she tried to talk to her boyfriend about what had happened he called her a slut.

The second victim said she felt completely lost, destroyed and stupid.

“I had no interest in living. My spirit was crushed,” the victim said in her statement.

Mr Cash said his client maintained that at the time he believed the victims were aged 16 or over, but now accepted that was not the case.

Psychiatrist Danny Sullivan told the court that Humble suffered from hebephilia, not paedophilia, which means he is attracted to young adolescents.

He said Humble would find prison difficult because of publicity surrounding the case.

Humble’s de facto wife told the court she supported him “200 per cent”.

She said Humble had earned recognition for his culinary skills, including the moniker of the risotto king.

Prosecutor Francesca Holmes said Humble knew the victims were vulnerable because they needed money and she said his remorse was sparse, if non-existent.

Humble, of Rosanna, was found guilty of six charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16. He pleaded guilty to three counts of making child pornography and one charge of accessing child pornography.

He will be sentenced by Judge Hampel on February 20.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/porridge-for-risotto-monster-simon-humble/story-fn7x8me2-1226200172586

Porridge for risotto monster Simon Humble

• by: James Campbell
• From: Sunday Herald Sun
• November 20, 2011 12:00AM

THE man once dubbed the risotto king of Australia is in custody after being convicted of a string of sex offences against girls as young as 14.

On Thursday, Simon Humble, 50, of Rosanna, sat with his head in his hands after a jury pronounced him guilty of six counts of sexual penetration of a minor.

The court heard Humble, who was formerly the owner of Southbank Italian restaurant Tutto Bene, paid two 14-year-old girls – one of whom was in the care of the Department of Human Services – to have sex with him.

He had also pressured them to procure other under-age girls to have sex with him and to send pornographic photographs of themselves to his mobile phone.

Humble had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of making child pornography and using a carriage service to access child pornography, but his defence to eight other charges was that he had paid the girls for sex believing they were over 16.

In two cases he managed to convince enough of the jury of five women and seven men for him to be acquitted by majority verdict. But the jury convicted him unanimously on six other charges of under-age sex.

Humble’s crimes were uncovered after one of his victims confessed to counsellors at a youth camp that she had been assaulted by a man two days earlier.

She later provided police with a mobile phone number and a description of a sports car she said belonged to the man later identified as Humble.

When police examined Humble’s phone records, they found he had been calling young girls from all over Melbourne.

They then applied for a warrant to tap his phone and over several weeks recorded him speaking to several girls and pressuring them to find girls to have sex with him.

Humble was arrested in early December last year and charged with 11 counts of sexual penetration of a minor, three counts of making child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography, two counts of committing indecent acts in the presence of a minor and two counts of committing an indecent act on a minor.

The offences took place over six years at St Kilda, Sydenham, South Yarra, Rosanna, Montmorency and Eltham, mostly in his car.

Humble was originally charged with crimes against four girls – two of whom were 14-year-olds in DHS care – but one of the victims later failed to appear at his committal hearing and prosecutors dropped the charges relating to another.

He was dubbed the risotto king of Australia in 1999 by TV chef Antonio Carluccio and has had a long career in Melbourne restaurants.

Humble – who has an earlier conviction for soliciting prostitution – was remanded by Justice Felicity Hampel to be sentenced next year.

 

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/risotto-chef-on-child-sex-charges/story-fn6bqvxz-1226056032035

Risotto chef on child-sex charges

• James Campbell
• From: Sunday Herald Sun
• May 15, 2011 12:00AM

THE man dubbed the risotto king of Australia has been charged with a string of child sex crimes.

At a committal hearing on Tuesday, chef Simon Humble, 49, pleaded not guilty to 20 charges of sex crimes against girls as young as 14.

Police and prosecution sources confirmed the co-owner of Italian restaurant Tutto Bene faces one count of rape, 11 counts of sexual penetration of a minor, three counts of making child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography, two counts of committing indecent acts in the presence of a minor and two counts of committing an indecent act on a minor.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2004 and 2010 at St Kilda, Sydenham, South Yarra, Rosanna, Montmorency and Eltham and were allegedly committed against four girls, two of whom were 14 year olds in the care of the Department of Human Services.

Police telephone intercepts are alleged to have caught Mr Humble arranging liaisons with a large number of young females.

Mr Humble began his career at the famous French restaurant Maxim’s before moving to the Italian eateries Cafe e Cucina, Il Bacaro and Scusami.

In 1999 he won the Silver Medal at the World International Risotto competition in Italy and leading television chef Antonio Carluccio dubbed him the risotto king of Australia.

In 1998 he cooked for Italy’s President during his visit to Australia.

Mr Humble was charged by Sunshine police late last year and appeared in court two days before Christmas where he was given bail.

The committal hearing of his charges began on Tuesday before magistrate Michelle Ehrlich, who on Wednesday adjourned the matter until August.

Reached at home in Rosanna yesterday, Mr Humble said he had no comment.

 

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David Alan Bowen

 

UPDATE:  JULY 2017

Bowen had been convicted of historic sex offences against a young boy.

He was found guilty of indecent assault at the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on May 30 and given a three-month jail term wholly suspended for a year.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/doctor-david-bowen-dodges-jail-over-sex-assaults-on-young-boys/story-fn7x8me2-1226035283765

David Bowen dodges jail over sex assaults on young boys

• Norrie Ross
• From: Herald Sun
• April 07, 2011 12:05PM

A DIRTY doctor with a history of sex offences against young boys avoided jail today after a County Court judge said his offending was “at the lower end of the scale”.

Judge Michael McInerney told David Bowen that his sexual assaults on five boys in his GP surgery in 1969 and between 1977-1979 preyed on their vulnerability and were a serious breach of professional trust.

For the second time in four years Bowen was named by a judge as a serious sexual offender but Judge McInerney said he agreed with his defence counsel that a jail term should be imposed only as a last resort.

Bowen, 67, a former Eltham GP, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault against five boys aged from 11 to 17 years, who were patients.

Judge McInerney jailed him for two years but fully suspended the sentence for three years.

“What David Bowen did under the guise of a doctor was something he felt he was safe in doing,” the judge said.

“He abused the boys in circumstances where he felt that they would be no threat to him.”

The victims came to his surgery for a range of complaints, from one who had a sore knee to another who had to undergo a medical examination in order to apply for a pilot’s licence.

In each of the cases Bowen, a former Rotary club president, of Greensborough, told the victims to remove their pants, touched and massaged their private parts and made comments about their sexuality.

In 2007 Bowen was jailed for 20 months in the County Court for sexually assaulting two boys, aged 12 and 14, in the the 1960s and 1970s.

The sentence later cut by four months on appeal and those victims have been fighting for compensation after Bowen claimed he had no money.

Judge McInerney said today the County Court saw many cases where there were complaints of penetration and oral sex and this knowledge meant Bowen’s offending was less serious.

The judge said the victim impact statements revealed some of the victims had ongoing psychological problems and Bowen had caused them to question their sexuality.

Dr Bowen’s registration as a GP was stripped in 2009 by the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria, and he was banned from applying to practise for 12 months.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/national/gp-facing-new-sex-complaints-20090316-8zwt.html

GP facing new sex complaints

• Julia Medew
• March 17, 2009

A MELBOURNE doctor who indecently assaulted two boys more than 45 years ago has had his registration cancelled while the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria assesses new complaints against him.

David Alan Bowen, 65, was jailed in 2005 for sexually abusing two boys, aged 12 and 14, during the 1960s and 1970s. He was released in November after serving 16 months and applied earlier this year to have a suspension on his registration lifted.

During a hearing at the Medical Practitioners Board earlier this month, Dr Bowen asked for permission to work as a general practitioner again because he had never been involved in any other sexual impropriety and still had “something valuable to offer”.

But yesterday the board heard that new complaints had been received. Counsel assisting the board, Andrew Clements, said several statements had been referred to the board, but he could not comment on the nature of the “untested allegations” within them.

He submitted several documents containing correspondence between police and the Medical Practitioners Board and urged the board to cancel Dr Bowen’s registration.

During the hearing, Dr Bowen said he did not want his registration cancelled and had not committed any offences aside from those to which he had pleaded guilty.

But board president Dr Robert Adler said Dr Bowen was guilty of professional misconduct of a serious nature because of the criminal offences he committed, and could not apply to renew his registration for 12 months.

Dr Bowen, who previously practised as a GP in Eltham, pleaded guilty in the County Court in 2005 to seven counts of gross indecency and 11 counts of indecent assault.

 

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,27574,25129791-2862,00.html

Jailed as a pedophile, GP bids to practise again

Grant McArthur

March 03, 2009 12:00am

A PEDOPHILE doctor recently released from jail for having sex with underage boys could be allowed to work again as a family doctor.

Lawyers for the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria on Monday recommended a disciplinary panel give David Alan Bowen back his licence so he can work as a GP in Eltham.

Dr Bowen, 65, was jailed in 2005 for sexually abusing boys, aged 12 and 14, in the 1960s and ’70s.

He spent 16 months in jail before he was released last November and applied to have the suspension on his medical licence lifted.

Dr Bowen represented himself at yesterday’s hearing. “There was never any question of impropriety by any patient against me,” he told the panel.

“I have met patients after I have been out of jail and have heard nothing but encouragement. I am gay but that is kept outside the profession.”

Counsel assisting the board, Andrew Clements, told the panel that because the offences occurred decades ago and did not involve patients, Dr Bowen did not pose any risk to future patients.

Mr Clements said allowing Dr Bowen to practise would, at first glance, damage the profession’s reputation.

He believed reasonable people who examined the details would realise he should be allowed to practise medicine.

“This is one where the immediate reality of what should be determined might be different to when we have examined all the material,” Mr Clements said. “I am not able to point the panel to any evidence that points to a risk of misconduct involved.

“If the public is fully informed . . . I wouldn’t think the public’s confidence would have been diminished.”

Mr Clements said the panel could restrict Dr Bowen from treating males under 18, warning it would be a cautious approach.

The panel found that Dr Bowen had engaged in unprofessional conduct.

It adjourned until Dr Bowen could be assessed by the Sexual Misconduct Assessment Service.

While a medical student in 1961, Dr Bowen began abusing a 12-year-old. The abuse continued until 1963.

His second victim was 14 when the abuse began, but he maintained a relationship with Dr Bowen until he was 26.

Dr Bowen pleaded guilty in the County Court in 2005 to seven counts of gross indecency and 11 counts of indecent assault.

In March last year, a County Court judge ordered Dr Bowen to pay the victims $210,000.

 

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23293433-2862,00.html

Sex fiend’s prison term cut

February 29, 2008 12:00am

A DOCTOR convicted of child sex offences dating back almost 50 years has had his jail sentence cut by four months.

Dr David Alan Bowen, 63, sexually assaulted two boys in the early 1960s and 1970s.

Bowen’s first victim was 12 and the other 14 when the offences started.

The earlier offences happened when Bowen was at Melbourne University. The later offences occurred when Bowen was an intern at Box Hill Hospital.

Last year Bowen, of Greensborough, pleaded guilty in the County Court to seven counts of gross indecency and 11 counts of indecent assault.

The Court of Appeal yesterday reduced Bowen’s sentence of two years eight months with a minimum of 20 months to two years four months with a non-parole period of 16 months.

Court of Appeal Justice Frank Vincent said Bowen’s victims had suffered profoundly, but said the sentencing judge had erred in treating two of the charges as sex offences, when they were

 

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21492369-2862,00.html Doctor preyed on boys Shelley Hodgson April 03, 2007 12:00am AN Eltham doctor will spend at least 20 months in jail for sexually assaulting two boys. Dr David Alan Bowen, 63, pleaded guilty to seven counts of gross indecency and 11 counts of indecent assault dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. One of the victims was just 12 and the other 14 when the offences started. The boys were not Bowen’s patients. The earlier offences happened when Bowen was studying medicine. The second victim met Bowen when he was an intern at Box Hill Hospital. Yesterday, Judge Jim Duggan sentenced Bowen to a maximum of two years and eight months’ jail. Once released he will have to report to authorities as a sex offender. Judge Duggan described Bowen’s behaviour as predatory and exploitative, saying that he had been able to ingratiate himself into the boys’ families. “It appears clear that you targeted a 14-year-old boy for explicit and extreme sexual activity,” Judge Duggan said. He said the victim described himself as naive at the time. “It would have been extremely difficult for someone in his position to resist the sexual advances of a friend of the family, who was seen as having significant prestige and whose relationship with the family was valued by it,” the judge said. “It is hardly surprising that he did not know how to respond.” The offences led to a relationship, which extended into the boy’s adulthood. Judge Duggan said Bowen, a former Rotary club president, had achieved prestige, social standing and financial security. All this had been lost as a result of the charges and publicity. “This case has been hugely destructive of the life that you have built over a very considerable period,” he said. Bowen was a partner in a medical practice in Eltham until recently. Bowen, of Greensborough, has continued To practise from the same premises. One of the victims said outside court that he was happy with the sentence. “It’s given him plenty of time to reflect on what he’s done to our lives,” the man said. The other victim said the sentence sent a message that “if you muck around with kids, you are going to end up in jail”. Both victims, who blame Bowen for emotional and psychological difficulties, encouraged anyone else who had fallen prey to a pedophile to come forward. The court heard that Bowen, who is openly homosexual, is suffering depression and is ashamed.   http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21417582-2862,00.html Doctor in custody March 21, 2007 12:00am A DOCTOR is behind bars for child sex offences. Dr David Alan Bowen, 63, sexually assaulted two young males in the early 1960s and the early 1970s, the County Court heard on Monday. One of the victims was just 12 and the other about 14 when the offences started. Prosecutor Jim Bessell said the earlier offences happened when Bowen, of Greensborough, was studying first year medicine at university. The second victim met Dr Bowen when he was an intern at Box Hill Hospital. Bowen, from the Central Medical Clinic in Eltham, pleaded guilty in the County Court last week to seven counts of gross indecency and 11 counts of indecent assault. Judge Jim Duggan remanded him in custody yesterday to be sentenced on April 2.   Join us on Facebook

Wilfred Baker – DEAD

 Baker died in February 2014.  He was aged 77.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/church-acts-to-defrock-all-paedophile-priests-20110508-1eebo.html

Church acts to defrock all paedophile priests

Barney Zwartz

May 9, 2011

THE Catholic archdiocese of Melbourne is defrocking every priest convicted of sexual offences against children.

Fourteen Melbourne priests have been convicted in criminal courts of offences against children. Three are dead. Of the others, four have already been defrocked and applications against another five are before the Vatican. Two more cases are being prepared for submission later this year.

Another priest, not convicted in court, has already been defrocked after being judged guilty of abuse by the church’s independent commissioner.

The archdiocese has moved quickly in the past year. In April 2010 a spokesman said that despite the more than 300 allegations of abuse substantiated by the independent commissioner, only one priest had been defrocked.

The church has been criticised for not acting to remove paedophile priests, but Melbourne’s Vicar-General, Bishop Les Tomlinson, said it was only recently that changes to canon law allowed defrocking without their consent and without a trial.

He said defrocking might be important in helping victims find closure, but any priest found to have offended against a child already had their faculties to act as priest removed.

Helen Last of advocacy group In Good Faith said the church’s actions opened the way for consultation about changes needed to the Melbourne system for dealing with complaints.

”There are a lot more priests who should be laicised [returned to lay status] through complaints to the independent commissioner’s office as well,” she said.

Bishop Tomlinson said the church could not identify the priests concerned, but last month he confirmed that former Healesville priest Paul Pavlou – convicted of an indecent act with a 14-year-old boy and of possessing child pornography – had been defrocked.

Barry Whelan, a serial abuser, but not of children, was also removed this year, but at his own request, reportedly to marry.

The priest removed before 2010 was rapist and serial abuser Michael Glennon, jailed in 1978, 1991 and 2003 for a multitude of offences.

The Broken Rites website identifies several Melbourne priests convicted in criminal courts. They include:

■ Wilfred Baker, jailed for four years in 1999 on 16 counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency against eight boys.

■ David Daniel, jailed for six years in 2000 on 16 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual penetration of a 16-year-old.

■ John Haines, jailed for four years and three months in 2008 on six counts of indecent assault and possessing child pornography.

■ Terence Merivale, jailed for six months in 2000 for indecently assaulting three young girls.

■ Terry Pidoto, jailed for seven years and three months in 2007 for rape and other offences against four boys.

■ Victor Rubeo, given a 12-month good behaviour bond in 1996 for indecent assaults against two boys.

Bishop Tomlinson said applications take six months to a year to be completed at the Vatican, and are similar to a prosecution brief in a criminal trial.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/05/03/1019441435002.html

Priest’s sex-abuse victim sues former archbishop

By Peter Ellingsen
May 4 2002

A man whom a paedophile Catholic priest sexually molested when the man was a schoolboy is blaming the archdiocese for his abuse.

The man is suing former Melbourne archbishop Sir Frank Little and his then vicar-general, now Ballarat Bishop Peter Connors.

In a statement of claim lodged in the County Court, the man, 35, says that Sir Frank, now 76 and retired, ignored or chose to overlook Father Wilfred Baker’s “known propensity to engage in sexual assaults”.

The man claims Sir Frank knew that Baker had been engaged in “illegal or inappropriate activities” but kept him on to avoid publicity. Baker, 65, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indecent assault, one of which involved the man, and was jailed in 1999.

Court documents say Sir Frank and Bishop Connors deny liability.

The man was 12 and a student at an Eltham parish primary school when Baker sexually assaulted him in 1979. Baker had been moved from Gladstone Park to Eltham in 1978 after two prominent Catholic laymen approached Sir Frank with allegations that the priest was sexually assaulting a local parishioner’s teenage son. Sir Frank told The Age he had no recollection of the 1978 visit by the laymen, one of whom was chairman of Gladstone parish’s school council. “No memory of it whatever,” Sir Frank said this week. He said he believed he had acted properly on all complaints brought before him as archbishop.

Bishop Connors is overseas and could not be contacted.

The man, a mechanic, says he needs ongoing psychological treatment because of the abuse. His claim alleges Sir Frank failed to dismiss Baker, or remove him from any position in the archdiocese in which he could abuse children. Baker went on to Richmond North after Eltham. The church suspended Baker in 1997.

The man’s claim alleges that Sir Frank concealed from parishioners his “knowledge of (Baker’s) proclivities”. It says Sir Frank failed to detect paedophile priests, and failed to remove them.

The claim also says that vicar-general Connors failed to supervise Baker, and failed, once he knew of reports of Baker’s conduct in Gladstone Park, to warn Eltham students.

In Victoria, no Catholic bishop has been found liable for sexual abuse that a priest has committed. Writs have been issued but none has proceeded to trial.

One man who sued said this week he gave up out of frustration and cost, and grudgingly took a payout from the archdiocese’s Pell Process, which can offer up to $55,000 compensation.

Since 1996, the archdiocese has paid out more than $4 million to about 120 victims (the average is $28,000) of 22 priests.

Archbishop Denis Hart denies there has been any cover-up of abuse, but says, with hindsight, the archdiocese could have done better.

“And we intend to do better,” he said. “If a beautiful picture is damaged, it is still a beautiful picture. The priesthood does make a magnificent contribution. I do have great confidence in Melbourne priests.”

Dr Hart could not guarantee that Melbourne would embrace a strict policy of zero tolerance towards priests who abused people sexually.

He said that if the independent commissioner into sexual abuse by priests, Peter O’Callaghan, QC, informed him a priest had offended, the priest would taken out of contact with people.

But this does not mean the priest will be sacked.

“It is not in my power to stop them being a priest,” Dr Hart said. “Only the Pope can remove someone from the priesthood.”

Already Rome has overturned his attempt to remove from the priesthood at least one disgraced priest, Peter Waters, who sexually abused Michael Santamaria, nephew of prominent Catholic layman Bob Santamaria.

Even though there have been cases in which a priest has broken the sexual rules, and been allowed to remain, Dr Hart said he believed one case of abuse was one too many”.

“I would certainly take a very strong line,” he said.