Sex Case Delay Ire

By Victoria Nugent
Armidale Express
June 6, 2014

http://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/2332597/sex-case-delay-ire/?cs=471

A MAGISTRATE has vented her anger over the 14th delay in the case of a defrocked priest charged with historic child sex offences.

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The former priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, first faced Armidale Local Court on October 18, 2012.

On Wednesday, his case was adjourned again because the prosecutors were not prepared. Magistrate Karen Stafford criticised the Director of Public Prosecutions for failing to comply with her orders, saying it was “completely unacceptable”.

She had previously set down a hearing for April 9 to determine whether alleged victims needed to attend committal proceedings.

The Director of Public Prosecutions wasn’t ready and asked for an adjournment until this week.

But on Wednesday the court heard that another adjournment was needed as one alleged victim had been re-interviewed and the matter had been referred once more to the director’s chambers.

Magistrate Stafford said she had received no explanation for the delay or any suggestion of when the matter would proceed further.

“That’s all I have been waiting for since I became a magistrate in Armidale in January 2013; an accurate indication of how this matter can go ahead,” she said.

Outside court, another person concerned by the delays is an Armidale teacher with a background in child protection.

The teacher, who prefers not to be named, grew up in Moree alongside alleged victims and spent years researching the ex-priest.

She said she and others following the matter felt it was “justice delayed”.

“This has been over 30 years in the making really,” she said.

“It needs to move forward.”

The woman said one of the parents of an alleged victim died earlier this year.

“It is very sad that he went to his grave before a resolution,” she said.

The ex-priest faces 135 charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of three girls and six altar boys during the 1970s and 1980s and of a further two girls and one altar boy in Moree and Armidale in the early 1980s. Another charge relates to the incorrect storage of a firearm.

His bail conditions prevent him from visiting Armidale except for legal or medical reasons.

He is also forbidden to approach Crown witnesses, his accusers or people aged under 16.

He will next appear at Armidale Local Court on August 7, when Magistrate Stafford has promised the hearing will go ahead.