TVNZ
August 14, 2009
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/aust-priest-suspended-over-sex-case-2918303
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The Catholic Church in Australia has suspended a Sydney priest facing serious criminal charges of grooming a child for sex.
Robert MacGregor Fuller, 54, conducted online chat sessions with a police officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
A priest at All Saints church at Liverpool, in Sydney's southwest, for six years, Fuller was arrested on Thursday in the car park of Parramatta pool where it is alleged he planned to meet the teenage girl for sex.
He was subsequently charged with grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16, and appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
"This is a clear abuse of a position of authority within the church, particularly as the defendant is in a position of having unvetted access to (children)," police prosecutor Sergeant Kai Peninkilampi told the court.
Fuller's face was captured by webcam during five of the online conversations, police said.
In applying for bail, Fuller's solicitor Greg Walsh called evidence from another Sydney priest who has known the accused for several years.
Father Terry Bell, currently acting in the position of bishop for the Western Sydney diocese, said Fuller worked hard and had a "very good reputation in the community", adding he was "shocked" when he heard the allegations.
Dressed in denim jeans and a zip-up tracksuit top, Fuller sat quietly in the dock of the court during the proceedings.
He was granted bail.
The Archdiocese of Sydney says he has been stood down from his ministry and will remain so pending the outcome of the court proceedings.
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