Bernard Kevin McGrath (born 22 May 1947) is a New Zealand convicted child sex abuser and former member of the Catholic religious order the Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God.

Also in 1977, Brother Timothy Boxall received a phone call from a sister who worked at the nearby hospital saying McGrath was sexually abusing boys.

In 1981 McGrath became headmaster of Kendall Grange, a boarding school for boys aged between 8 and 15 who suffered from behavioural, emotional or intellectual problems.

As the sole brother responsible for the operations of Hebron Trust, McGrath had direct contact with the District Police Commander's Office and Youth Aid.

[7] In 1992, Jason Van Dyke's mother, Janice, personally reported her son's sexual abuse by McGrath to Brother Joseph Smith.

Smith admitted he had received another complaint about McGrath six months earlier but assured Janice "Don't worry, we are dealing with it.

"[citation needed] In October 1993, former Marylands student Brian Uttinger reported that Brother Rodger Moloney had sexually abused him.

In December 1993, the mother of a boy who attended Marylands in the 1970s had written to Cardinal Thomas Williams, Archbishop of Wellington, saying that her son had been sexually assaulted throughout the entire two years he had been at the school.

Lucas advised Smith to tell McGrath that "Allegations have been made, you do not need to give me any details, there is an official protocol that is fair and just for everyone concerned...dangerous for B to return to NZ."

On 15 August, Smith brought McGrath to St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, where they met with Father Brian Lucas.

At this time, Lucas led the Australian Catholic church's response to the emerging scandal of child sexual abuse by priests.

As a civil lawyer, Lucas established the church's Special Issues Resources Group responsible for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse against clergy.

Lucas gave evidence to the Royal Commission that his role was to help the bishop or major superior "manage the person making the complaint, see that their needs were met and get the offender out of the business".

[2] Shortly after the Lucas meeting, Brother Joseph Smith accompanied McGrath to Jemez Springs, a treatment centre run by the Catholic order the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete for sexually abusive clergy and religious in New Mexico, United States.

During 1993–94, McGrath took part in the Jamaica program, a six-month residential treatment for religious personnel who had committed sexual offences against children.

During 1995, Jason Van Dyke made a statement to Chatswood police alleging that McGrath had sexually abused him at Kendall Grange between 1982 and 1983.

[13] In 2008, as McGrath was released on parole, Brother Roger Moloney was sentenced to two years and nine months on seven counts of sexual abuse of children at Marylands.

In late 2010, Strike Force Lozano was established by NSW Police to investigate more allegations of child sex abuse at Kendall Grange.

[4][19] In her sentencing remarks, Judge Sarah Huggett said that she had "no doubt at all that systemic abuse of children at Kendall Grange was taking place during the period of McGrath's offending".

Following a short internal investigation and despite serious allegations of child sexual abuse, O'Donnell transferred McGrath to Kendall Grange in New South Wales.

[21] When more allegations emerged in the early 1990s, the order's provincial, Brother Joseph Smith, followed Catholic Church protocol and took McGrath to meet Father Brian Lucas, a priest and civil lawyer.

Lucas was head of the church's Special Issues Resource Group tasked with responding to the emerging scandal of child sex abuse by priests and brothers.

[2][23] On 29 April 2013, Brother Timothy Graham, the provincial of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God, Oceania province, gave evidence before the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry Into The Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.

I made mention in my earlier statement to police that the attitude within the order was one of reacting to a religious failing to keep his vow of chastity.

"[citation needed] The commission were unable to conduct a public hearing into the order because of the risk of prejudicing the trials of McGrath and Brother John Clegg.

[26][27] One accuser, Donald Daniel Ku, would testify before the Commission in February 2022, claiming that McGrath sexually abused him in 1963 while he was a student Marylands School and also put him in a coffin containing a dead body.

[29] In December 2020, detectives Darren Webster and Scott Selkirk from Strike Force Lozano were awarded for their work on the McGrath case.

[30] In 2019, journalist Sarah Ferguson and producer Nial Fulton gained access to the NSW District Court to film McGrath's fifth trial as part of their ABC television series Revelation.

During his interview, McGrath admitted the order had covered up his sexual offending against children for decades and moved him to prevent scandal and police investigation.

McGrath told Ferguson he confessed his sexual abuse of children to Father Brian Lucas and Brother Joseph Smith in 1992 but neither reported it to the police.