AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Stephanie Dalzell
A former Catholic priest has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for child assault offences in New South Wales dating back to the 1970s.
Robert Flaherty, 72, assaulted three boys in their early teens in Sydney and at Mollymook, on the state’s south coast, during the 1970s and 1980s, but was only arrested in 2013.
A complaint was first made in 1972, however instead of being referred to police, Flaherty was transferred to a parish in Ryde.
The former priest pleaded guilty to three offences of indecent assault, but was also found guilty by a jury last September of two further offences.
He appeared at Sydney’s Downing Centre court and sat impassively as his sentence was handed down.
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