A Christian Brother is charged re two schools in NSW in 1970s

Broken Rites
November 12, 2014

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/340

A retired Christian Brother who taught in Catholic schools at Manly (in Sydney) and Goulburn (in southern New South Wales) has been charged with a number of historical indecent assaults on five boys. The alleged offences involved three boys at Manly and two at Goulburn, who were aged between 13 and 15 at the time, between 1973 and 1976.

The 75-year-old Brother was arrested on 10 November 2014 at a residence for Christian Brothers in southern New South Wales.

Detectives from Northern Beaches Police Command in Sydney executed a search warrant of his residence and seized documents and computers that are now undergoing further examination.

The charges stemmed from Australia's current national Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, at which alleged evidence has been produced. The  Royal Commission material was referred to Sydney's Northern Beaches Police for investigation.

After the Brother’s residence was raided, he was taken to Cootamundra police station (in southern NSW), where he was interviewed, before being charged with nine counts of indecent assault of a male and one count of act of indecency.

The man was given conditional bail to appear at Cootamundra Local Court on Monday, 1 December 2014. This will be a brief administrative hearing to officially file the charges. This magistrate would schedule a court date for the subsequent step in the prosecution process.

Investigators are now encouraging any victim of any indecent or sexual assault, no matter how long ago it occurred, to contact the investigators for a private interview. Victims are urged to call Dee Why police station (in Sydney's north) on 02-99713399, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The investigation is being conducted by the Detectives Office in Manly (Sydney). This office is within the Northern Beaches Local Area Command.

Initial media reports on 10-11 November 2014 incorrectly described the person charged as a Catholic "priest" (because some people do not know the difference between a priest and a religious Brother), but this mistake was later corrected, and Broken Rites has verified that the man charged is a member of the Catholic order of Christian Brothers — an organisation which has traditionally been involved in teaching in Catholic boys' schools.