AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By ALICA THOMAS July 29, 2015

FORMER Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns has finally broken his silence about clergy sex abuse within the Catholic Church, telling a court he remembers a priest “misbehaving” in a sexual way.

Bishop Mulkearns was forced to give evidence against former priest Robert Claffey who has pleaded not guilty to a string of sexual assault charges.

Appearing in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Bishop Mulkearns, now retired, underwent a compulsory examination revealing evidence about child sexual abuse for the first time in almost two decades.

“I remember he (Claffey) had been misbehaving … in a sexual way”, Bishop Mulkearns told the court.

“But I only would have recalled Wendouree in connection with that. I don’t remember details”.