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	Ex-Priest Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges The Age October 24, 2008 http://news.theage.com.au/national/expriest-pleads-guilty- to-sex-charges-20081024-585y.html A former priest who kept slow-motion footage of a boy masturbating among his child-porn stash has been held in custody before being sentenced next month. Edmund John Haines, 62, has pleaded guilty to six counts of an indecent act with a child under 16, procurement of a minor for child pornography and possessing child porn. The crimes, involving two boys, occurred in the Victorian towns of Bannockburn, Winchelsea and Geelong between March 2006 and February 2008. Geelong County Court on Thursday was told Haines started to shower lollies and magazines on one of his 15-year-old victims in 2006. Soon after, he removed the boy's pants to capture images on a mobile phone and fondle his genitals. Haines also harassed the boy to provide him with topless images of himself. On another occasion Haines asked the same boy to masturbate on a bed while he left the room, later returning to capture images on his mobile phone. After this incident he gave the boy a radio Esky as a gift. The court was told Haines also allegedly grabbed both of the victims on the backside. The defendant was arrested in February when he gave his old phone to a parishioner which still contained images of one of the victims. He was found with 30 child porn images in his possession. Brian Bourke, appearing for Haines, called four character witnesses who described a respected man devoted to the Catholic church. Friend and former colleague Dr Kevin Yelberton told court Haines constantly expressed his remorse in their daily phone conversations. "He uses language like, 'I've been a bloody idiot, I've ruined everything, I've ruined the parish',". Dr Yelberton said the defendant had no interests outside the church and believed he would not pose a further risk to the community. Another witness Patricia Colla said Haines was beloved in the small Meredith community where he lived at the time, and reports of his sexual perversions were "not at all the man we know". But Judge Geoffrey Chettle said Haines' standing in the community highlighted the extent of the "gross breach of trust". Haines had "no sexual experience at all" because of the sexual "prohibition" imposed upon Catholic priests, Mr Bourke said. And he urged the judge to take into account the "stress and strain these people (priests) are under for years and years". Haines will remain in custody until sentencing on November 4.
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