A Marist Brother Is Charged Re Allegations from 40 Years Ago

Broken Rites
October 3, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/306

New South Wales detectives have charged Marist Brother Peter Pemble (aged 66) with child-sex offences allegedly committed when he worked at a Catholic boys' school early in his career, more than 40 years ago. The detectives allege that the incidents occurred at Maitland (in the Hunter region, north of Sydney) in 1971-1972, when Brother Pemble was in his twenties. Later in his career, Brother Peter Pemble became the principal of several Catholic schools in New South Wales before retiring in 2009.

In recent decades, Brother Pemble's appointments as a principal have included:

St Patrick's Marist college Dundas, western Sydney;

Marist College in North Sydney:

Trinity Catholic College Lismore, northern NSW; and

St Gregory’s College Campbelltown, south-western Sydney.

After retiring from teaching in 2009, Brother Peter Pemble began doing some study in Australia and overseas.

In mid-2014, while Brother Pemble was studying in Belgium, he made a visit to Australia. Detectives contacted him in Australia and interviewed him on 22 July 2014 at a Sydney police station about a recent complaint from a male who was a pupil at Marist Brothers Maitland in 1971-72.

Brother Peter William Pemble was then charged with three incidents of indecent assault of a male and was granted bail pending the court proceedings.

Detectives filed the charges at a hearing in the Newcastle Local Court on 14 August 2014. This was a brief administrative procedure. The court has scheduled the case to come up for further mention in the same court on a future date, for the next steps in the prosecution process.

According to court documents, Brother Peter William Pemble was born in 1948.

The case in Newcastle Local Court is being handled by the Central Hunter Detectives Office, based in Maitland. These detectives are continuing their investigation. Anyone with relevant information can contact Crime Stoppers,

telephone 1800 333 000.