AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
South African Christian preacher living in Australia faces deportation after being one of eight men charged with abuse of a 13-year-old girl
By Leesa Smith for Daily Mail Australia and Sarah Michael and Australian Associated Press
The South African Christian minister allegedly embroiled in a paedophile ring could be sent back to his homeland under new Australian immigration laws.
Pastor David Volmer, a father-of-two from Banksia Grove in Perth, Western Australia, pleaded guilty to 12 child sex abuse charges. A 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually exploited by a total of eight men over two years.
Now the 41-year-old South African, who moved to Perth’s northern suburbs to set up an Acts Christian Church parish in 2013, faces being turfed out of the country after the law changed in December last year allowing Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to cancel a non-citizen’s visa if they are found guilty of a child sex crime within Australia,The Australian reported.
This comes as the South African-based church’s only Australian parish will close its doors after the shocking revelation that Volmer is allegedly one of the eight men facing a total of 503 charges for offences that allegedly happened when the girl was aged between 11 and 13, the ABC reported.
Reverend Peter de Fin, whose grandfather founded the church, flew to Perth to speak to the 50-odd members of the parish.
He said he had not been able to meet with the young victim but did want to apologise on behalf of the church and offer her counselling.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.