Nsw Priest Appeals Sexual Abuse Conviction

7 News
April 16, 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/16762478/nsw-priest-appeals-sexual-abuse-conviction/


A NSW priest who sexually abused underage girls says evidence about how hypnosis could have distorted the memories of witnesses should have been allowed into his trial.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is appealing his sentence and conviction after he was found guilty in 2010 of nine counts of indecently assaulting two underage girls and a 16-year-old girl.

Describing the assaults as "predatory and planned", Judge Michael Finnane sentenced him in 2012 to a minimum of five years in prison, with his earliest date of parole set for November 2015.

But in a hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal on Tuesday, his solicitor Greg Walsh said justice had been miscarried on a number of fronts.

One, he said, was the decision to exclude evidence by Dr John Roberts into how hypnosis could have distorted the memories of at least one of the witnesses in the trial.

"It (hypnosis) involves clearly as a matter of practice hype and suggestibility," Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh argued that the sentence was too severe and did not take into account the extra-curial punishment his client had faced.

He said the man had been subject to "outright vilification" and extensive media coverage, and that this coupled with threats to him and his family should have been taken into account.

But crown prosecutor Nicole Norman, SC, said there were aggravating circumstances around the offences.

"Because the applicant was a priest he got access to these children," she said.

"It was a time when members of the church seemed to hold a much more significant role in the community.

"These children were rendered vulnerable because of their families' trust."

Justices Clifton Hoeben, Christine Adamson and David Davies have reserved their decision on the appeal.