OHIO
Dayton Daily News
By Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writer
Marianist Brother Bernard Hartman, who was working in Dayton when allegations of long-ago sexual abuse of children on the other side of the globe made headlines in late 2011, has “voluntarily” returned to Australia to face charges, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.
The report said the 73-year-old appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges he abused four children while working at St. Paul’s College in the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors told the court Hartman’s victims were two boys and two girls aged 6 to 16 at the time of the offenses, which took place at the college and the children’s homes, Australian Broadcasting reported.
Hartman’s next court hearing is set for November, according to the report.
In a prepared statement Thursday, the Rev. Martin Solma, provincial for the Marianist Province of the United States in St. Louis, said the Marianists recently received notice that Australian authorities had issued a warrant for Hartman’s arrest.
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