TAMWORTH (AUSTRALIA)
Northern Daily Leader
April 5, 2019
By Breanna Chillingworth
A FORMER priest will stand trial on close to 130 historical abuse charges, after prosecutors laid more child sex offences that carry life behind bars, if found guilty.
David Joseph Perrett appeared via video link in Armidale Local Court on Wednesday from prison where he was being held on more than 140 historical abuse allegations.
In court, prosecutors laid eight new counts of adult maintain unlawful relationship with a child – a charge that carries life imprisonment, if convicted.
The child abuse allegations stem from when Perrett was a serving Catholic priest in the Armidale, Walcha, Guyra and wider New England area, in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.
Magistrate Michael Holmes formally committed Perrett for trial to the district court on 130 separate charges.
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