Former Catholic priest James Jennings, 80, jailed ...

By Shannon Deery, Padraic Murphy
Herald Sun
February 24, 2014

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/former-catholic-priest-james-jennings-80-jailed-for-sustained-sex-attacks-at-bendigo-in-the-1960s/story-fni0ffnk-1226836271577

80-year-old former priest James Jennings has been found guilty of a string of sex attacks in the 1960s. Source: News Limited

A FORMER Catholic priest has been jailed for the sustained sexual abuse of teen boarders at a regional Victorian college.

James Jennings, 80, was today found guilty by a jury of five counts of assault for the attacks on three young boarders in the mid 1960s.

He was found not guilty of one count of assault.

The attacks, on the boys aged 12 and 13, started shortly after Jennings was appointed to teach at St Vincent’s College, Bendigo in 1963.

The students were all in Year 7 or 8 when they were abused in similar ways between 1964 and 1968.

On each occasion Mr Jennings fondled or masturbated the boys.

In one incident he allegedly instructed one boy to masturbate him, saying “he owed him one”.

The offences happened in either the boys’ beds, Mr Jennings’ office or the school sick bay.

The offending spanned five years before one of the students complained to another priest and Jennings was removed from the school.

He was ordered to return to Sydney by his superiors, where he had started as a teacher priest in 1959 at St Stanislaus College.

He was moved from the school two years later and posted in Queensland “because of an undue familiarity problem with one of the students,” court documents revealed.

A former St Stanislaus College student told the County Court Jennings had indecently assaulted him.

In 2010 Jennings stood trial in the Sydney District Court on charges of abusing boys at St Stanislaus’ College.

Four complainants gave evidence but Jennings was later found not guilty of all charges.

Jennings, who left the priesthood in the 1970s, vigorously defended the most recent allegations during a two week County Court trial.

He told the court many of the details of the complainants were wrong, and he had never assaulted the boys.

“On no occasion did I ever take boys in to my bedroom,” Mr Jennings said.

He was remanded in custody until a plea hearing in April.