AUSTRALIA
9 News

A Victorian Catholic priest is set to face court for a plea hearing charged with historical child sexual abuse.

Father Frank De Dood, of the Salesian order, will face a plea hearing in the County Court in Melbourne on Thursday, charged with six child sex abuse related crimes dating back to 1978.

The priest’s first hearing was adjourned after it was revealed Judge Gerard Mullaly, who was to hear the case, had an indirect family link to one of the victims.