CURRENTLY SERVING PRIEST CHARGED WITH INDECENT ASSAULT FROM 1979 & 1980
A serving Catholic priest has been charged with three counts of indecent assault on a boy on the mid north coast, between 1979 and 1980.
In March 2014, a 46-year-old man told the Royal Commission into child sex abuse, that he was sexually abused by two Catholic priests and another man.
The boy was between the age of nine and 12 at the time the alleged abuse occurred.
Subsequent police enquiries led to the arrest of a 76-year-old Newcastle man at midday today.
Police say the man is a currently serving priest within the Maitland Newcastle Catholic Diocese.
He was charged with three counts of indecent assault on a male, and will appear in Forster Local Court in April.
Maitland/Newcastle Catholic Diocese Bishop Bill Wright has confirmed the priest concerned has agreed to stand aside from the ministry, and that the Diocese will continue to cooperate with police in their investigations.
