AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times
May 1, 2014
Michael Inman
Courts reporter for The Canberra Times.
A former Canberra Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to historical acts of indecency on young boys in Sydney the 1960s.
Moves to defrock Father Gregory David Rankin, 79, were started by the Jesuit Provincial – the head of the order in Australia – upon hearing of Wednesday’s pleas in the Downing Centre District Court.
Rankin was a lay teacher at Northbridge Primary School when he committed 11 acts of indecency on three boys in the 1960s.
He joined the priesthood in 1970 and there are no allegations he offended while giving service to the church.
Court documents said the defendant molested one boy after he volunteered to tutor the 11-year-old after school in late 1963.
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