AUSTRALIA
The Age
February 10, 2016
Nino Bucci
Crime reporter for The Age
The Archdiocese of Melbourne did not know a paedophile priest, who the church had put on paid leave, had left Australia.
The Age revealed on Wednesday that Father Peter Grasby, who was put on administrative leave in 2012, had left Melbourne for Malaysia and was seeking the company of “younger Asian men” using gay dating websites.
The church confirmed that the complaint against Father Grasby, which related to abuse at St Joseph’s in West Brunswick against a boy aged as young as 10, had been upheld in 2013.
The church said the complaint had also been referred to police, despite saying at the time that the victim had declined to report to the force.
Father Grasby was assistant priest at the time of the sexual abuse, which started in the late 1970s and may have continued until the early 1980s.
The priest asked to move overseas in August 2013, a Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne spokesman said.
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