Dad loses bid to sue police over sect abuse

A father has lost his bid to sue NSW police for failing to find his children after their mother took them to a religious sect where they were allegedly beaten, given enemas and starved.

NSW Supreme Court Master Joanne Harrison today dismissed the case brought by Stephen Quintano after she found police could not be sued over their actions during an investigation.

Mr Quintano had accused police of ignoring repeated requests for help when his wife disappeared with 10-week-old Ashley and Luke, then aged eight, on June 4, 1986')

After he tracked them down days later to a Kempsey property run by a secret cult, known as the Traditional Catholics, Mr Quintano told police but they failed to use the information to secure their release, he claimed.

Instead, they traced a silent phone number and then contacted the property which led to the Quintano children being spirited away for a second time.

It took the racehorse breeder from Warwick Farm another 17 months before he was able to locate his son and daughter in the Kempsey region and regain custody, the court was told.

Mr Quintano alleged that delay led to his children being physically, sexually and mentally abused at the hands of the sect, which is not related to the Catholic Church.

The pair were given colonic irrigation or enemas and routinely whipped and deprived of food as part of a regime of extreme discipline, the court was told.

Mr Quintano's barrister, Eric White, argued police were not covered by common law immunity as they had only made a phone call which did not amount to an investigation.

However, Master Harrison found previous court decisions clearly established that police did not owe a duty of care to individual members of the public and the evidence showed the police action was part of an investigation.

She ordered him to pay all the legal costs.

Outside court, Mr Quintano said today's decision amounted to "the never-ending saga" being swept under the table and questioned why immunity should apply to anybody, especially police.

"When they say you can't take the law into your own hands - you must notify the police, and then (for the) police to do that and not be held accountable ... I can't explain it," he said.