Trial Date Set for David O'hearn, Former Hunter Priest Accused of Indecent Assault

By Nick Bielby
The Herald
May 15, 2019

https://www.theherald.com.au/story/6123418/trial-date-set-for-former-hunter-priest-accused-of-indecent-assault/


Former Hunter priest David O'Hearn will face a trial in July over child sex charges levelled at him last year.

O'Hearn, who remains in custody following previous convictions for child sex offences, was charged with the fresh counts by Strike Force Georgianna detectives last March.

In Newcastle district court on Tuesday, his legal representative said there was no prospect of resolution without proceeding to trial.

The court heard there was one complainant in the matter, which related to alleged child sex offences in Lake Macquarie in 1994.

The Herald reported last November that O'Hearn pleaded not guilty to nine counts of aggravated indecent assault - under authority.

On Tuesday, Judge Roy Ellis scheduled the trial to begin on July 17.

The trial is expected to run for eight to 10 days.

O'Hearn spent time as a deacon in the parishes of Singleton and Waratah in the 1980s before he was ordained as a priest.

He then worked at Muswellbrook, Cessnock, Windale, Toronto, Rutherford, Mayfield, Swansea and Nelson Bay.