BishopAccountability.org
	Cairns Link to Priest Pedophile Cairns.com.au March 13, 2008 http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/03/13/2292_local-news.html A GRIEF-stricken father is calling for the victims of a pedophile who reportedly taught in Cairns more than 25 years ago to alert authorities. Ross Francis Murrin, 52, was on Monday sentenced in the Sydney District Court to a maximum three years and three months after pleading guilty to 17 charges of indecent assault. He will serve a minimum of 18 months. Murrin molested eight students, aged between nine and 11, after he was appointed a teacher at the Marist Brothers' school Daceyville, in Sydney's east, in 1974. But he admitted in court there were other occasions he had abused the children for which he had not been charged. The day of the conviction, a caller told the producer of 2GB's radio talkback show that Murrin molested him while he taught at a Catholic school in Cairns in the mid-1970s. The father of a Sydney victim who died of a drug overdose in 1987 urged Murrin's victims to contact police or Broken Rites, a non-profit group that campaigns against church sexual abuse. He said Murrin betrayed the trust of not only his students but also their families. "He was quite a charismatic bloke," said the man, who cannot be named because it would identify his son. "We as a family knew him." A Broken Rites spokesman said the group was "researching" any connection Murrin had to Cairns. The abuse at Daceyville often took place when Murrin asked the boys to come to his desk and invited them to sit on his lap. He would then fondle them in front of the rest of the class. A number of the offences took place on a religious retreat or during detention with one boy molested while the class was in the library watching a movie. The most serious incident occurred during a weekend, when Murrin grabbed one of the victims from behind and pinned him to the floor before pulling his pants down and trying to kiss him. Murrin himself had been habitually sexually abused between the ages of eight and 16 by an older cousin. He taught in the Marist system until two of his victims came forward to the church in August 2002. Speaking outside court, Marist Brothers spokesman Alexis Turton apologised to the victims on behalf of the order. With time already served, Murrin will be eligible for parole in July next year.
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