AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
JOANNE MCCARTHY
23 Aug, 2012
A MAN who attempted suicide in a church-owned building in October last year is one of 14 men alleging that defrocked Catholic priest John Denham sexually assaulted them at a Hunter school in the 1970s.
Mr Denham, 70, did not enter pleas to 47 charges including indecent assault and buggery during a brief appearance at Newcastle Local Court yesterday.
Police allege a man made a statement after attempting suicide last year. He alleged Mr Denham had repeatedly sexually assaulted him at St Pius X School Adamstown in 1977, when the man was 12.
Police allege the man had attempted suicide or contemplated it many times before October last year when he made his allegations against Mr Denham for the first time to an employee from the Catholic Church’s investigative unit, Zimmerman House.
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