AUSTRALIA
The Age
September 11, 2014
Mark Russell
Court Reporter for The Age
Former Catholic priest David Rapson’s use of his office to allegedly abuse young boys was “a very significant common feature” in the case against him, according to the Court of Appeal.
“What is distinctive about his use of the office, apart from anything else, is that it was a location which embodied, and reinforced, his authority over the boys at the school,” said Court of Appeal president Justice Chris Maxwell and Justices Geoffrey Nettle and David Beach on Thursday.
The appeal judges said evidence from two victims allegedly abused by Rapson in his office would be admissible at his new trial in the coming months.
The judges last month ordered Rapson’s release after he had been jailed for a minimum 10 years.
A County Court jury had found Rapson, 61, guilty last year of abusing eight boys between the mid-1970s and 1990 but he appealed his conviction.
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