a Catholic Brother Is to Face a Court in Queensland

The Broken Rites
November 4, 2013

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/241

A Catholic religious Brother is to face a committal hearing in a Queensland magistrates court, charged with sexual assault.

Police arrested the Brother in May 2013, placing him on bail pending the court proceedings. The case came up for a brief mention in court on 3 June 2013,  and this was reported in the Cairns Post daily newspaper.

The case relates to one alleged incident. The alleged victim was not a student or a child.

The Brother, who occupies a senior position in a Catholic school in regional Queensland, indicated in court through his lawyer that he intends to contest the allegation.

The magistrates court adjourned the case to another date, to allow time for the prosecutors to provide a brief of evidence to the defendant's lawyers. Meanwhile, the Brother continues to be on bail.

In Queensland, the name of any defendant in a case such as this cannot be published during these preliminary proceedings in a magistrates court.

The school, where the Brother works, sent a letter to parents on 20 May 2013, stating that this Brother was taking leave from the school pending the court proceedings.

The letter stated: "The matter does not concern any student or young person."

The letter said that the Brother "strongly denies the allegation and will be seeking to have his name cleared."

Update, November 2013

On 1 November 2013, ABC News in Cairns reported  (in a story by reporter Sharnie Kim) that five witnesses will take the stand at a forthcoming committal hearing in Cairns involving the school principal.

 The ABC news item stated:

"The man, in his 50s stood, aside as principal of a far-north Queensland Catholic school after being charged with sexual assault [earlier in 2013].

"The man cannot be named for legal reasons.

"The Cairns Magistrates Court heard that the complainant is a man in his 30s who worked at the school. He alleges the defendant groped him through his clothes while inside a car in 2011.

 "Police were notified about a year later.

"The court heard the complainant has previously received two payouts totalling $115,000 from a religious order - the first for a sexual assault complaint and the other for a workplace bullying claim."