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	"Creepy Snake" Priest Charles Alfred Barnett Jailed for Abuse By Sean Fewster Adelaide Now August 5, 2010 http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/creepy-snake-priest-charles-alfred-barnett-jailed-for-abuse/story-e6frea6u-1225901596853 A CATHOLIC priest who used his power, influence and authority to groom teenage boys for deviant sex has been jailed for at least four years. But Charles Alfred Barnett will be elligible for release on parole 18 months sooner, because of the time he spent in prison cells both here and in Indonesia. Barnett, 68, pleaded guilty in the District Court to abusing four boys between 1977 and 1994. He admitted his crimes to a counsellor in 1995 and, in 1996, left Australia to pursue work in Indonesia. He was arrested in Jakarta in February 2008, and extradited to Adelaide in February 2009. In sentencing today, Judge Paul Rice said Barnett's crimes had "wrenched the innocence" from his victims. "One of them says your `depraved and immoral act' had a massive impact on his life, and called you `evil'," he said. "Another calls you `creepy, like a snake'. "I make it clear I sentence you on the basis that, at the time of each offence, you knew what you were doing was legally and morally wrong." Judge Rice agreed with a psychological report that said Barnett had "profoundly betrayed" his position of trust. The report concluded he had "sexually exploited the victims to fulfil his deviant sexual needs". He gave Barnett a 25 per cent sentencing discount for his guilty pleas, and took into account the time he spent in the "much more harsh prison conditions" of Indonesia. Barnett was sentenced to 6 1/2 years jail, with a four-year non-parole period. Both terms were back-dated to February 2009, when Barnett returned to Australia.
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