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  Jury Retires to Consider Verdict in Sexual Assault Case

ABC News
February 11, 2008

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/11/2159872.htm

A Launceston Criminal Court jury will tomorrow begin considering its verdict in the case of a former Burnie priest, accused of sexually assaulting 3 boys.

72 year old Roger Michael Bellemore has stood trial in the Launceston Criminal Court the past week.

He's denied 3 counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17.

It is alleged the offences happened while Bellemore worked as a priest at Burnie's Marist College in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In a closing submission, his lawyer Greg Walsh argued there were inconsistencies and embellishment in the stories of the 3 alleged victims.

But the Crown Prosecutor Michael Stoddart said Bellemore used a position of trust and admiration to draw boys to his room and use them for his own sexual satisfaction.

 
 

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