AUSTRALIA
The Age
August 21, 2014
Adam Cooper
Court reporter for The Age
A former priest who this month had convictions for sexually abusing eight boys at a Catholic boarding school quashed has been granted a six-month wait before a retrial.
David Rapson, 61, was last year jailed for a minimum 10 years after he was found guilty by a County Court jury of five counts of rape and eight charges of indecent assault related to the abuse of eight boys at the school between the mid-1970s and 1990.
But the Court of Appeal this month overturned the convictions after the Office of Public Prosecutions conceded the 13 charges should not have been heard in the one trial because of differences in the offending that was alleged. Rapson was released on bail.
The Court of Appeal ruled Rapson should face a retrial and that the number of trials to be held should be a matter for the presiding judge.
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