AUSTRALIA
The Courier
By William Vallely March 6, 2015
A FORMER Ballarat parish priest has appealed a three-month jail sentence after indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl in the 1970s.
Leslie Sheahan, 84, a Ballarat North priest in the 1960s, was on Thursday given a 12-month sentence by magistrate Michelle Hodgson – three of which were to be served immediately.
Ms Hodgson said the historical sex offence was indicative of the culture of silence and accountability by members of the clergy who have abused positions of trust.
“Slowly but surely we have come to recognise people in positions of power are taking advantage of people,” she said.
Sheahan pleaded guilty to unlawful/indecent assault of a girl – a historical charge which predates the sexual penetration of a child charge introduced in 1980s – in February.
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