AUSTRALIA
The Age
Tom Allard and Josephine Tovey
July 5, 2012
THREE senior Catholic clergy who were allegedly told by a priest that he molested young boys, but then failed to tell police, could face criminal charges for failing to report the offences, legal experts say.
As the archdiocese of Armidale, in NSW, launched a ”full investigation” into the scandal, NSW police also said they were assessing the claims, which were aired on the ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday. The case involves a priest, since defrocked but now living in Armidale, NSW and a prominent member of the community, accused of repeatedly sexual abusing young boys since the early 1980s in parishes stretching from Moree to Tamworth and Parramatta.
Dubbed Father F, the alleged paedophile priest testified under oath in a 2004 court case that he confessed to performing oral sex on young boys, at a meeting in 1992 with Fathers Brian Lucas, John Usher and Wayne Peters.
All three are senior members of the Catholic hierarchy.
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