By Steve Butcher
The Age
May 31, 2011
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/christian-brother-pleads-guilty-to-sex-abuse-counts-20110530-1fcrr.html
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THE voice of paedophile and Christian Brother Robert Charles Best resonated strongly from the dock of Melbourne's County Court.
Best yesterday announced his name, age, occupation and address in an almost defiant tone after offences he committed between 1975 and 1988 were read to him. But his tone flattened when he replied "guilty" six times in answer to the question of how he pleaded to offences against three victims.
The 70-year-old's admission to charges involving three boys over a 14-year period from 1975 ended a long legal pursuit for justice by victims, investigators and prosecutors.
His pleas also lifted a court order issued almost a year ago that today enables The Age to report that juries in six separate trials since November have found Best guilty of 21 sex offences against eight victims.
He was acquitted of two charges of sexual penetration and gave evidence in some trials, which were all tenaciously defended and held one after the other. A complainant died before one trial.
Best was convicted in 1996 of offences against boys at a Ballarat school where he taught, and in 1998 he won a retrial after being jailed on similar charges. He was charged again in 2008 with crimes committed when he was a school principal.
Prosecutors Amanda Forrester and John Livitsanos told Judge Roy Punshon late yesterday of a resolution that alleviated the need for five further trials.
With Best's pleas to six charges, including two of aggravated indecent assault of a boy under 16, Ms Forrester announced the discontinuation of some charges and a permanent stay of others.
She said Best's pleas "will clear all of the matters in respect of this accused", crimes all-up committed between 1969 and 1988.
Defence counsel Sarah Leighfield asked that a date for a plea in mitigation be set in July to allow reports on Best from an oncologist and a psychologist.
As Best stood and gave his pleas, one of his victims turned to stare at him as the man's mother wept and embraced her son.
Christian Brothers Oceania yesterday issued a statement after the sudden change in Best's legal position, offering a "sincere and unreserved" apology to the former students sexually abused by him.
Its executive officer for professional standards, Brother Brian Brandon, said the Christian Brothers were "deeply saddened by these events, especially the great distress and suffering caused to these victims and their families".
He added that the Christian Brothers "view abuse in any form — and, particularly, the sexual abuse of the young and the vulnerable — as repulsive".
Best, who said he was a retired teacher now of Port Phillip Prison, will return to court on July 25.
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