Marist Brother Luke Leslie Saker in court on sex-assault charges, Broken Rites (January 21, 2015)

Marist Brother Luke Leslie Saker in court on sex-assault charges

Broken Rites
January 21, 2015

http://brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/350

Marist Brother Leslie Garfield Saker, 74, whose religious name in the Marist order is Brother Luke Saker, was charged by police in a Sydney court on 20 January 2015 with sexual offences allegedly committed against a 16-year-old schoolboy in 1974. The boy was a student at a Catholic school in Auburn in Sydney's west.

The Saker case had its first mention on 20 January 2015 with a magistrate in Sydney's Burwood Local Court. This was a brief administrative procedure for the charges to be officially filed in court. On display in the Burwood court-house on that day was a list of 192 cases which were scheduled for a court mention that day (in several court-rooms), and Leslie Garfield Saker was included on the list.

Brother Saker has not yet been required to indicate how he will plead in answer to the charges.

The Saker case will come up again in the Burwood court in late February 2015 for a further mention to consider the subsequent steps in the judicial process. The main proceedings would be held on a later date.

An announcement from the New South Wales Police media office on 11 December 2014 said: "On Tuesday 9 December 2014, investigators spoke with a 73-year-old man who was a former teacher at the college. He was later issued a future court attendance notice for the offences."

A week after this police interview, judging from court documents, Brother Saker turned 74 years of age.

The police investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by detectives from Auburn Police Station.

Brother Luke Saker is a long-time member of the Marist Brothers, although he is no longer teaching schoolchildren. A Marist Brothers document has given his full name (for Marist Brothers purposes) as Luke Leslie G. Saker. (It used to be common for a new Marist Brother to be given a new "religious" first-name.) For court purposes, the prosecution charge sheet gives his name as Leslie Garfield Saker.