AUSTRALIA
The Age
July 29, 2015
Alicia Thomas
Former Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns has finally broken his silence about clergy sex abuse within the Catholic Church, telling a court he remembers a priest “misbehaving” in a sexual way.
Bishop Mulkearns was forced to give evidence against former priest Robert Claffey who has pleaded not guilty to a string of sexual assault charges.
Appearing in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Bishop Mulkearns, now retired, underwent a compulsory examination revealing evidence about child sexual abuse for the first time in almost two decades.
“I remember he (Claffey) had been misbehaving … in a sexual way”, Bishop Mulkearns told the court.
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“But I only would have recalled Wendouree in connection with that. I don’t remember details”.
Claffey is charged with one count of buggery, 14 counts of indecent assault and one count of committing an indecent act on a child under the age of 16.
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