BishopAccountability.org
	School Sex Priest Asks for Leniency By Gavin Lower The Mercury [Australia] March 18, 2006 http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18507259%255E3462,00.html Roger Michael Bellemore is the latest priest set to be jailed in Tasmania on child sex charges in recent years. He will join former Anglican priests Garth Hawkins and Louis Daniels, who have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms for sexually abusing boys, and failed Catholic priest Paul Goldsmith. Bellemore, 70, was in the Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday for a sentencing hearing after being found guilty last month of sexually abusing four boys between 1967 and 1971 at Marist College in Burnie. His lawyer, Greg Walsh, told Justice Shan Tennent Bellemore's case was not the worst of its kind. Mr Walsh submitted that Bellemore's conduct was at the lower end of the range of criminality. Mr Walsh said that, while Bellemore's behaviour was a serious breach of trust, the acts he committed were "not acts involving any intrusive forms of sexual conduct albeit they were very serious". He also said the conduct was not associated with acts of depravity. "What comes across here is a gross breach of trust by an offender who had a quiet disposition," Mr Wash said. Bellemore was found guilty by a jury of four charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17. The charges related to four boys aged between 12 and 15 who were boarders at Marist College where Bellemore was a teacher. The indecent assaults involved Bellemore touching the boys and having them touch him in his room above the junior dormitory at the school and in the infirmary. Mr Walsh said Bellemore was in poor health and that he would serve any jail sentence in harsh conditions "in the sense he will have to be in protection". He also tendered testimonials from students, religious members and teachers who had come into contact with Bellemore over the past 40 years. The testimonials outlined the "dedication and hard work" Bellemore had demonstrated over that time, Mr Walsh said. Mr Walsh asked Justice Tennent not to impose a "crushing sentence" on Bellemore given his stage in life. Justice Tennent remanded Bellemore in custody for sentencing on March 27.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.