AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
IAN KIRKWOOD
10 Aug 2016
A FORMER employee of Farragher’s removalist’s firm has told of finding a pornographic video with a boy of about 12 on the cover when packing up possessions of disgraced Anglican priest Peter Rushton in 1998.
Rushton’s pornographic hoard at the Maitland rectory was discussed in evidence in the first week of the Anglican hearings of the Royal Commission in Newcastle.
On Wednesday morning, the removalist, Gary Askie, told how he was made to sign a statement promising not to say anything to anyone about the incident.
“The church knew he [Rushton] was gay and I wasn’t allowed to say anything to anyone about it,” Mr Askie told the royal commission.
He said he was about 28 years old at the time and was shocked and horrified at what he saw. Most of the videos he saw had naked adult males on the covers but one definitely had a boy, who he said was naked and aged about 12.
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