NEW ZEALAND/AUSTRALIA
Stuff
DAVID CLARKSON
Nearly three weeks after his return to New Zealand, a former Catholic brother and convicted sex offender has decided he will fight extradition to Australia on 252 fresh charges.
Bernard Kevin McGrath, a former priest at Marylands School in Christchurch, has already served prison time in New Zealand for offending against boys.
He was in Sri Lanka last month when the Australian police laid charges alleging he has repeatedly raped, molested and abused dozens of young boys at church-run institutions in the Newcastle-Maitland diocese over several decades.
He returned voluntarily to New Zealand and was arrested the next day on the Australian charges. When he made his court appearance on December 3, bail was granted for him to live with his sister in Christchurch while he considers what to do about the extradition bid.
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