AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
In January 2016, police have charged two men (now elderly) regarding sexual offences (including buggery) which allegedly were committed fifty years ago against an 11-year-old Catholic schoolboy in Liverpool, a suburb in south-western Sydney. These offences allegedly occurred at a church-owned address after school had finished for the day. Details will become clearer during court proceedings later in 2015. Until the late 1980s, Catholic boys in Liverpool were taught by Patrician Brothers, who lived nearby in a Brothers’ residence in George Street, Liverpool. The Brothers had access to facilities provided by a nearby girls’ school (then known as St Mary’s but now called All Saints). Liverpool detectives want to hear from any former students (at either the girls’ or boys’ school) who can assist in this investigation. Nowadays, Liverpool’s Catholic boys and girls are taught by lay teachers.
The charges in 2016 were laid after Liverpool detectives received information from one former student, a male, who alleged that the assaults on him occurred in 1974. One alleged offender, who was in his twenties in 1974, is charged with four assaults against this boy. The other alleged offender, who was in his late thirties in 1974, is charged with being “an accessory after the fact” (this can mean, for example, that after an offence was committed by the first man, the second man had some knowledge about the first man’s offence).
On 22 January 2016, the New Wales Police issued the following media release:
“Liverpool Police have charged two men with historical sexual assaults at a Catholic educational facility dating back to the 1970s.
“Following the receipt of information from the Royal Commission into Institutional Sex Abuse, investigators from Liverpool Local Area Command commenced inquiries into the alleged sexual assaults at the facility on George Street.
“Police will allege that in 1974, the 11-year-old boy who was in Year Five at the time, was assaulted after school had finished for the day.
“1. On Thursday 21 January 2016, a 77-year-old man attended Wyong Police Station. He was later charged with indecent assault upon a male (x 3) and buggery. The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on 2 March 2016.
“2. On Friday 22 January 2016, an 89-year-old man attended Mt Druitt Police Station. He was later charged with buggery (accessory after the fact). The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on 2 March 2016.
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