Reverend Bruce Shaw pleads guilty to abuse of boy, 12, five decades ago

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
20 Apr 2017

A NEWCASTLE Anglican priest was given a three month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy in 1967.

Reverend Bruce Shaw, 72, was working at a spiritual retreat at Stroud in 2016 when he was charged with the offence which occurred when he was sole teacher and principal at a Victorian primary school.

Wangaratta Magistrates Court was told Shaw was 23 when he invited two young family friends to his rural property for the weekend, and insisted the 12-year-old sleep in his bed.

Six years later Shaw completed his training and became an ordained priest.

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