An Ex-priest Is Charged Re a Male Student in Bathurst, Nsw

Broken Rites
January 25, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/271

Police investigating historical sexual assaults on students at schools in Bathurst (in central-west New South Wales) arrested a former Catholic priest on 23 January 2014 at his residence in Newington in western Sydney. The man, now aged 71, was taken to Auburn police station, where he was charged with multiple counts of aggravated indecent assault of a male student between 1974 and 1977, when the accused man was a Catholic priest.

The priest was a member of a Catholic religious order which operates at several locations around Australia (that is, he did not belong to a particular local diocese). He eventually left his religious order.

A NSW Police media release on 23 January 2014 said that the man was conditionally bailed to appear at the Burwood Local Court in western Sydney later in 2014.

The arrest was made by detectives from Strike Force Belle, which has been formed to investigate allegations of the sexual and indecent assaults of students by various offenders between 1960 and 1993 at two secondary boarding schools in Bathurst:

St Stanislaus College (Catholic); and

All Saints College (Anglican).

Detectives from Strike Force Belle are continuing their inquiries and urge anyone with information relating to other incidents to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.