"Callous" Priest Jailed for Child Sex in Australia

Sun Daily
April 19, 2012

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/354317

An Australian court jailed a former Catholic priest for at least five years on Thursday for sexually abusing girls as young as eight in what the judge called "a major breach of trust".

Brian Spillane, 69, was convicted of nine charges of indecent assault relating to abuses during the 1970s and 1980s, when he was a priest in both Sydney and rural areas of New South Wales state.

Jailing Spillane, Judge Michael Finnane said he had used his position to gain the trust of the families of young girls and access to their homes.

He called each assault "serious, planned and callous" and described Spillane as a "violent bully and coward".

"He was very trusted and the parents of each of the victims readily gave him access to their daughters because of that trust and the esteem in which he was held," the judge said.

"It was sexual abuse carried out by a trusted priest and was a major breach of trust."

Some of the offences occurred when Spillane was alone with his victims in their bedrooms for night-time prayers. One happened in a car after he had said mass at a memorial service.

The court heard that Spillane had shown no remorse. – AFP