AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
BY BEN SMEE
06 Jul, 2012
AN Anglican church professional standards board has recommended a Hunter priest be defrocked for his involvement in a sexual encounter with a 19-year-old and another priest, and for breaching a long-repealed law that banned homosexuality in NSW.
The priest, who cannot be named, did not attend the hearings this week but said through a lawyer that he could not afford to retain legal counsel and denied the allegations.
The three-person board unanimously upheld four allegations relating to an alleged encounter at a church synod in 1984.
They included that the priest committed the offences ‘‘indecent assault’’ and ‘‘outrage on decency’’ in a motel room with the complainant, who was 19 at the time, and another priest.
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