AUSTRALIA
news.com.au
Olivia Lambert
news.com.au
THE church was the one place where children should have been protected.
But behind cold, stone walls in Mortlake, there were shocking secrets and the most wicked crimes lurked in the shadows. Even today, a heavy energy exists over the town decades after some of the worst sexual crimes imaginable upon its residents.
It’s unclear just how many children were abused behind doors at the Mortlake parish but there were dozens who were violated by a paedophile priest. So deep was his obsession with young boys that no one was safe, an entire community and almost every family touched by his disturbing behaviour.
Mortlake is about a 2.5-hour drive from Melbourne, roughly 50km northeast of coastal town Warrnambool.
It’s population is just a touch more than 1000 and it continues to grow slowly, despite the horrors of its church in the 80s.
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