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	Father Murray Moffat to Face Trial on Child-sex Charges Broken Rites February 24, 2010 http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page221-murray-alexander-moffat.html An Australian court has ordered a Catholic priest, Father Murray Alexander Moffat, to face trial over allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. Father Murray Moffat belongs to the Archdiocese of Brisbane, which includes the Brisbane metropolitan area, plus some surrounding regions. He has served in Brisbane parishes for 37 years. Before appearing in court, he was in charge of Mary Mackillop Parish in Birkdale, Brisbane. The archdiocese has said that Moffat is still a priest of the archdiocese and is merely on leave pending the outcome of the court proceedings. On 16 February 2010, Fr Murray Moffat (aged 64) appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court, 35 kilometres from Brisbane. Police charged Moffat with two instances of indecent dealings with the girl. The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1977 and 1981 in the Ipswich region. The parish of Booval (a suburb of Ipswich) was mentioned in the court proceedings. Police stated that the girl was 12 years old when the alleged abuse started. At the time of the alleged offences, Father Moffat was aged between 32 and 36. The Ipswich magistrate committed Moffat to stand trial before a judge in a higher court, the Ipswich District Court. Moffat's defence lawyer did not oppose the charges being committed for trial. Moffat, who now lives in Brisbane, did not enter a plea to the charges. The case will come up for mention at the Ipswich District Court on a date to be fixed. How the court case began On Thursday 18 June 2009, after an investigation lasting several months, Queensland police announced that they had charged "a Catholic priest" (no name) with the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl. The charge was reported in the media but the media did not name the priest, because (under Queensland law) the name cannot be published until after a magistrate has committed the defendant for trial. The police issued the priest with a summons to appear in court on a future date. The Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane said in a statement on 22 June 2009 that the charged priest (still not named) has now stood down from his current parish (not named) and is on leave from pastoral duties as a result of the allegations. The church statement said that the priest is still a priest of the archdiocese. Meanwhile, in mid-2009 the parish priest at Birkdale, Fr Murray Moffat, suddenly went on leave. The congregation did not know reasons for Fr Moffatt's absence. All Masses in his Birkdale parish were taken over by the local assistant bishop On 21 June 2009, a fellow priest (Father Frank O'Dea, from the Star of the Sea Parish, covering Cleveland, Ormiston, Raby Bay, Thornlands and Stradbroke Island) stated in the Star of the Sea Parish newsletter: "It came to my notice that Father Murray Moffat resigned as parish priest of our neighboring parish of Birkdale on last weekend. I have known Murray from our time studying together in the seminary and during his thirty-seven years as a priest in Brisbane parishes. We played many cricket and football matches together. Murray is a good friend. I ask your prayers for him and also for the people of Birkdale in the tricky intervening time until the appointment of a new parish priest." A week later, on 28 June 2009, Fr Frank O'Dea again said in his parish newsletter: "Please keep in your prayers Fr Murray Moffat, a friend of mine over many years, in his sudden retirement. Also we pray for the people of Birkdale parish, in this tricky period, until the appointment of a new parish priest." On 28 July 2009, Queensland media reported that "a priest" (still not named) appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court, charged with two counts of indecent treatment of a 12-year-old girl. The case was then adjourned for a committal mention in the same court on a later date.. When the committal procedure was completed on 16 February 2010, the media was finally free to identify the priest as Father Murray Alexander Moffat. Parishes Father Murray Moffat has worked in various parishes in the Brisbane diocese. Broken Rites has checked some of these parishes in the annual editions of the Directory of Australian Catholic Clergy. For example, in one edition of the directory in the 1970s, he was listed as an assistant priest in the "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart" parish at Darra (14 kilometres from Brisbane, on the Ipswich train line). After 1981, his parishes were: * From 1981 to 1992 he was in charge of St Peter's Parish, Rochedale, Brisbane, until 1992 when he was succeeded at Rochedale by Father James Cosgrove (Fr Jim Cosgrove). * Next, he was in charge of St Catherine's parish, Wishart (in Brisbane's south-east), until 2004. * From 2005, he was in charge of the Mary MacKillop parish, Birkdale, until he was charged by police in mid-2009.
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