Former Teacher at North Catholic Sentenced in Australia on Sexual Abuse Charges

By Michael Hasch
The Tribune-Review
May 14, 2015

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8373457-74/catholic-hartman-north#axzz3aCQoWEN2

A Marianist brother will be sentenced in Australia for his conviction on charges of sexually abusing three children in Melbourne, an Australian newspaper reported this week.

Brother Bernard Joseph Hartman, 75, who once taught science at the former North Catholic High School in Troy Hill, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and was convicted on an additional count of indecent assault and two counts of common law assault, the Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay Star Weekly reported Tuesday.

Hartman was charged in Melbourne with sexually abusing two boys and two girls in the 1970s and 80s.

He pleaded guilty to molesting two girls between the ages of 8 and 11, the newspaper reported. He was convicted of molesting one of the boys in the 1980s and acquitted of abusing the second.

Hartman is a former biology teacher at North Catholic, now known as Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School in Cranberry.

He was arrested at Melbourne Airport in September 2013 and is believed to be the first Catholic clergy member extradited from the US to Australia to face court, the newspaper reported.

When the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh learned last March that Hartman was awaiting trial in Australia, it sent a letter to North Catholic alumni alerting them of the allegations. The diocese received an accusation of abuse by Hartman here as well as complaints about three more Marianist brothers at the school.

Hartman was not charged with a crime here, state court records show.