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	Accused Priest Told to Leave before WYD The West Australian September 4, 2008 http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=512189 St Stanislaus School in Bathurst, in the NSW central west, says a former brother accused of child-sex abuse was asked to leave the premises before he could act as chaperone to World Youth Day pilgrims. It was reported that the 66-year-old man, who was charged on Wednesday with sex offences, was a former teacher at the school and returned to it in July this year as a chaperone for pilgrims on a four-day visit to Bathurst. Principal John Edwards said the man was asked to leave the school just moments after the Department of Community Services (DoCS) and Bathurst police confirmed on July 9 that he was being investigated for sexual abuse at the school during the 1970s and 1980s. Mr Edwards said that after he was served a search warrant pertaining to the former brother, he immediately tried to confirm if the man named in the document was a witness or under investigation for committing abuse. "From the time the warrant was served on the 2nd of July, I have a log of constant interactions with the NSW Ombudsman, DoCS and Bathurst police - all very cooperative - when it came to providing us information," he told AAP. "But the information did not arrive until Wednesday, July 9, and on that date the action was implemented." He said he received confirmation at 4.10pm that the man was being investigated and immediately contacted the man's order, the Vincentians, to ask the man to leave. The man did leave that day, he said, as the World Youth Day pilgrims were beginning to arrive at the school for a four-day visit. "My overwhelming issue was the presence of a person who may be the subject of serious allegations when there were children present," Mr Edwards said. "My issue was, should he be here when children were going to be here?" The Vincentians did not return calls from AAP on Thursday. On Wednesday, the 66-year-old Catholic brother, arrested at Marsfield in Sydney's northwest, was charged with 28 child sexual offences relating to his time as a teacher at the school. He is one of four men charged with sex abuse offences at two schools in Bathurst - St Stanislaus and All Saints College - in the 1970s and 80s. Brian Spillane, 65, from Narwee, was charged in May with 33 offences allegedly committed at St Stanislaus and on Tuesday had a further 60 charges laid against him. On Wednesday, a 65-year-old priest from Armidale was charged with four alleged offences at St Stanislaus. And a 63-year-old Queensland man was charged on Wednesday, with three counts of indecent assault at All Saints College. A man who says he was sexually abused by a staff member at a school in Bathurst is urging other victims to come forward. The man, who gave his name only as James, said he was abused at a school, which he did not name, in the 1970s when he was 14 years old. Now in his 40s, he said he was molested three times over a period of about three months and the incidents deeply upset him. "It was a little frightening. I felt violated. I knew it was wrong and yet each time he came to me I felt like: 'Oh yeah, OK'," he told Fairfax Radio Network. "He came back again and again. "It went on over a period of two or three months." James was encouraged by a friend to tell the principal, who contacted his parents and the police. "I want to encourage people to come forward and tell their story to the police," he said. "The police are really good. They've been trained in this thing now."
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