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US priest to stand trial for sex attacks on four children
By Adam Cooper
Age
March 19, 2014
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/us-priest-to-stand-trial-for-sex-attacks-on-four-children-20140319-3529z.html
An American Catholic brother has been committed to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting two boys and two girls more than 30 years ago.
Bernard Joseph Hartman, 74, who voluntarily returned to Australia from the United States last year after Victorian authorities initiated moves to have him extradited, will stand trial on 14 charges of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency with a girl under 16 and two of assault.
After hearing more than two days of evidence in a committal hearing, magistrate Jo Metcalf on Wednesday found there was sufficient evidence for Brother Hartman to be found guilty.
Brother Hartman pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He is accused of sexually abusing two teenage boys in 1981 and 1982 while he was a teacher at St Paul's College in Altona.
It is also alleged he abused two girls between 1974 and 1978 when he visited their homes as a friend of their families. The girls were aged between six and 11 at the time.
In documents tendered to court, one of the alleged victims said in a police statement he was indecently assaulted by Brother Hartman over two years, sometimes in a classroom when others were present.
He alleged Brother Hartman also pulled his hair and physically assaulted him. The alleged abuse, he said, had a profound effect on his life.
"After more than 30 years I am still suffering. My innocence has been taken by a man of God, Brother Hartman," he told police.
"In Year 11 in 1982 I wanted to kill him. My schooling suffered and my life has suffered as a result."
The complainant also claimed other teachers at the school were aware of the alleged abuse.
One of the female complainants said she had received a letter of apology from Brother Hartman in 1999.
Brother Hartman worked in Australian Catholic schools in the 1970s and was still working for the church in Ohio in 2012. He returned to the United States in 1984.
Hartman was granted bail and is due to appear before a directions hearing at the County Court on Thursday.
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