AUSTRALIA
Sky News
An alleged victim was compelled to come forward after 40 years of silence by the prospect of his aunt’s funeral being conducted by the priest he says sexually abused him as a boy.
James Henry Scannell, 88, is accused of luring an altar boy to the bedroom of his Melbourne home in the early 1970s and sexually assaulting him.
When Scannell agreed to conduct the funeral of the boy’s aunt in 2010, the alleged victim told his family to find another priest, prosecutor Kristie Churchill said.
The former altar boy, now aged in his 50s, approached police just months later, Ms Churchill told Scannell’s Victorian County Court trial.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.