Priest Back from Rome to Front Vic Court

The Age
April 26, 2013

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/priest-back-from-rome-to-front-vic-court-20130426-2iikk.html

The former head of the Salesian Catholic order in Australia has faced court on charges of sexually abusing Victorian children more than 30 years ago.

Priest Julian Benedict Fox, 67, returned from Rome to face three charges of buggery, five charges of indecent assault and two charges of assault in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

Police allege Fox abused four boys between 1976 and 1985 in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne's outer east, and in Sunbury, about 40km northwest of the city.

Police on Monday described the priest's return to Victoria as a breakthrough in co-operation between Victoria Police and the Catholic Church.

They said they had been negotiating with the Catholic Church since July 2012 to have Fox returned from Rome.

Fox, of Ascot Vale, was the Australian head of the Salesian order for a period in the 1980s.

He was also a teacher at Salesian College Rupertswood in the 1980s.

Fox walked into the Victoria Police crime department headquarters in Melbourne with his lawyer on Monday to face the allegations.

During a brief hearing on Friday, he was granted bail on condition he reports weekly to a Melbourne police station.

He will reappear in court on July 19.