Accused molester priest David Edwin Rapson…

AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Accused molester priest David Edwin Rapson pleads not guilty to indecent assault charges

A PRIEST accused of molesting eight boys at two Victorian schools admits giving children alcohol and cigarettes but denies he ever abused them.

Salesian priest David Edwin Rapson has pleaded not guilty to eight charges of indecent assault and five counts of rape at Lysterfield College and Rupertswood College between the 1970s and 1990.

Rapson’s barrister Shaun Ginsbourg told a Victorian County Court jury that Rapson had given some children cigarettes and alcohol but denied all of the abuse allegations.

“It is true that he’s crossed the line in terms of socialising with children but that doesn’t make him a sex abuser,” Mr Ginsbourg told the court on Tuesday.

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