AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

AAP

The former head of the Salesian Catholic order in Australia will face a committal hearing on charges of sexually abusing children in Victoria.

Priest Julian Benedict Fox is facing three charges of buggery, five charges of indecent assault and two charges of assault.

He is accused of abusing four boys at Ferntree Gully and Sunbury between 1976 and 1985.

Fox, 67, briefly appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, where he was directed to face a five-day committal hearing of the charges beginning on October 21.