Former NSW priest charged with child abuse

By Jamie Mckinnell
Australian Associated Press (AAP)
November 13, 2017

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/37861525/former-priest-charged-with-child-abuse/

A former Anglican priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in the NSW Hunter region in the early 1990s.

Newcastle detectives began investigating the now 75-year-old in 2016 after a referral from the child sexual abuse royal commission.

Police say the man is a former "senior" priest who allegedly abused the boy in 1991.

He was arrested on Tuesday morning at a home in Kotara.

He is facing four counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated indecent assault and is due to appear in Newcastle Local Court on December 7.

Bishop Peter Stuart of the Anglican Church in Newcastle says each allegation of sexual abuse is a matter of "deep shame and regret" for the people of the diocese.

He said in a statement he wasn't able to comment further given there were ongoing legal proceedings, but the church encouraged survivors of abuse to contact authorities.