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	Priest May Lose Oam over Sex Charge Perth Now June 26, 2009 http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25694583-5005521,00.html HE has dedicated his life to the Catholic church. For years he was a member of the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board and his work with HIV and AIDS sufferers in Sydney earned him a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1994. But this week, Father Hugh Edward Murray, 79, was charged with five counts of indecently assaulting males. Suffering heart disease and too sick to face the charges in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court yesterday), a solicitor for Murray said he "vehemently'' denied the allegations that he said stemmed from a "police trawl''. Even if the charges are not proven, if Father Murray is deemed to have "behaved or acted in a manner that has brought disrepute on the Order'', the retired priest could be stripped of his OAM. Police say Father Murray is the ninth man to be charged over historical child sex offences at boys boarding school St Stanislaus Catholic College (known as Stannies), at Bathurst in central western New South Wales. There are three alleged victims in the matters FatherMurray is charged with, one of whom was a Stannies student. Police allege the indecent assault against the boy occurred at Bathurst some time between February 6, 1978 and June 1978. The other charges relate to two victims with four alleged indecent assaults occurring at Sydney and Eastwood between June 1966 and January 1973. His solicitor Greg Walsh did not enter a plea on Father Murray's behalf in court yesterday, but later made clear his intentions. "The allegations are vehemently, strenuously denied,'' Mr Walsh said today. The matters involving two of the alleged victims were investigated by police in 1999 and no charges were laid, Mr Walsh added. "The chances of these charges reaching any conviction is highly unlikely,'' Mr Walsh said. "I've got no doubt that the charging of Father Murray is consistent with the police conducting what is a police trawl ... finding and charging any person they can link to what can only be described as a bizarre set of allegations.'' Father Murray, who is on bail, is excused from attending court when the matters are next mentioned on August 20.
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