AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
February 2, 2016
Paul Bibby
Court Reporter
A Catholic priest repeatedly sexually abused three young altar boys in regional NSW in the 1980s, including raping one child at the church’s altar, a court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is being tried for 17 offences allegedly committed against the boys, aged 11 and 12, between 1980 and 1984.
The court heard the man, who is no longer a priest, has already pleaded guilty to 40 other child sex offences and is awaiting sentencing for those crimes.
In his opening to the ex-priest’s trial in the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Bryan Rowe outlined a series of alleged incidents in which the accused groped, molested, raped or forced oral sex on the boys.
He said one of the boys was the victim of 11 separate offences, including repeated indecent assaults during trips to a local swimming pool.
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