AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites
A Catholic priest in the Jesuit Order, Father David Rankin (now aged 79), is pleading guilty to historical acts of indecency on young boys in Sydney. The offences occurred in the 1960s when Rankin was a lay teacher before he joined the priesthood.
On 30 April 2014, Father Rankin (full name Gregory David Rankin) appeared in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court for pre-sentence proceedings. He confirmed his guilty plea.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on a later date.
According to court documents, David Rankin was a lay teacher at Northbridge Primary School in northern Sydney when he committed 11 acts of indecency on three boys in the 1960s.
The court documents said Rankin molested one boy after volunteering to tutor the 11-year-old after school in late 1963. The abuse continued at tri-weekly tutoring sessions the following year.
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