I'm not sure if all these charges are coming out of the Commission into Institutional Sex Abuse, but it's good to see Australia is cleaning house. God bless 'em.
A court has heard a Catholic brother from America voluntarily returned to Australia to face allegations of child sex abuse.
Bernard Hartman, 73, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged over the alleged abuse of four children during his time at St Paul's college in the 1970s and 80s.
The prosecution told the court his alleged victims are two boys and two girls aged between six and 16 and the alleged crimes took place both at the college and the homes of the children.
On 19 March 2014, a Melbourne magistrate ordered an American Catholic Brother to stand trial in Melbourne regarding a series of alleged sex offences against Australian children. Brother Bernard Hartman, 74, is accused of sexually assaulting four children from a Melbourne school more than 30 years ago.
Brother Hartman, born in the United States, is a member of an international Catholic religious order known as the Marianist brothers and priests. He worked in Australian schools in the 1970s and early 1980s.
He is facing 14 charges relating to sexual assaults on two boys and two girls while he was working at St Paul's College in Altona, a suburb in Melbourne's west. (This school was then operated by the Marianist religious order but now has become one of the campuses of Emmanuel College.)
The alleged attacks, on victims aged between six and 16, occurred between 1976 and 1982 when Brother Hartman worked at the school. The court was told that the alleged assaults occurred at both the school and at the victims' homes.
According to statements made in court, victims first came forward to Victoria Police in 2003, with more allegations made in 2012.
Hartman returned to the US in 1984. He was still working for the church in Dayton, Ohio, in July 2012.
Victoria Police had discussions with law enforcement agencies in the United States to have Brother Hartman investigated over allegations of sexual abuse concerning his time in Australia.
Brother Hartman voluntarily flew into Melbourne Airport on 3 September 2013 to face the charges. Detectives from Taskforce Sano (in the Victoria Police sex-crime squad) met him at the airport and escorted him to the court. Taskforce Sano was created in late 2012 following the launching of a Victorian State parliamentary inquiry into how child abuse allegations have been handled in churches and other religious organisations. The task force is headed by senior sergeant Michael Dwyer.
In the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 4 September 2013, a magistrate granted bail to Hartman pending his next court appearance. The court ordered that Hartman is to stay at an address in Melbourne, which is residential accommodation occupied by a different Catholic religious order, the Christian Brothers. And the court ordered that he must report to the police periodically.
In documents tendered to court, one of the alleged male victims said in a police statement he was indecently assaulted by Brother Hartman over two years, sometimes in a classroom when others were present.
He alleged that Brother Hartman also pulled his hair and physically assaulted him. The alleged abuse, he said, had a profound effect on his life.
"After more than 30 years I am still suffering. My innocence has been taken by a man of God, Brother Hartman," he told police. Not a man of God, I'm afraid. Not even close.
In a statement tendered in court, one of the alleged female victims said that Hartman molested her between the ages of 5 and 11 in her bedroom after he had been invited around to dinner. She said she would try to avoid going to bed, or pretend to be asleep to deter him, but could not tell her adoptive parents, who were devout Catholics and in awe of Hartman.
"I felt vulnerable to the world. I was not coping. I felt unprotected," she said.
The court heard that the abuse ended when she was 11, but years later she received a love letter from him.
The woman said that when she complained to the Catholic Church's "Towards Healing" office in her early 20s, she was advised not to tell anyone what happened "as it may stir up problems in other people's lives". Good grief! So it's obvious they knew there were more victims.
The police investigation is continuing, conducted by Task Force Sano in the Victoria Police sex crimes squad.
A court has heard a Catholic brother from America voluntarily returned to Australia to face allegations of child sex abuse.
Bernard Hartman, 73, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged over the alleged abuse of four children during his time at St Paul's college in the 1970s and 80s.
The prosecution told the court his alleged victims are two boys and two girls aged between six and 16 and the alleged crimes took place both at the college and the homes of the children.
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| Bernard Hartman |
Brother Hartman, born in the United States, is a member of an international Catholic religious order known as the Marianist brothers and priests. He worked in Australian schools in the 1970s and early 1980s.
He is facing 14 charges relating to sexual assaults on two boys and two girls while he was working at St Paul's College in Altona, a suburb in Melbourne's west. (This school was then operated by the Marianist religious order but now has become one of the campuses of Emmanuel College.)
The alleged attacks, on victims aged between six and 16, occurred between 1976 and 1982 when Brother Hartman worked at the school. The court was told that the alleged assaults occurred at both the school and at the victims' homes.
According to statements made in court, victims first came forward to Victoria Police in 2003, with more allegations made in 2012.
Hartman returned to the US in 1984. He was still working for the church in Dayton, Ohio, in July 2012.
Victoria Police had discussions with law enforcement agencies in the United States to have Brother Hartman investigated over allegations of sexual abuse concerning his time in Australia.
Brother Hartman voluntarily flew into Melbourne Airport on 3 September 2013 to face the charges. Detectives from Taskforce Sano (in the Victoria Police sex-crime squad) met him at the airport and escorted him to the court. Taskforce Sano was created in late 2012 following the launching of a Victorian State parliamentary inquiry into how child abuse allegations have been handled in churches and other religious organisations. The task force is headed by senior sergeant Michael Dwyer.
In the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 4 September 2013, a magistrate granted bail to Hartman pending his next court appearance. The court ordered that Hartman is to stay at an address in Melbourne, which is residential accommodation occupied by a different Catholic religious order, the Christian Brothers. And the court ordered that he must report to the police periodically.
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| Hartman |
He alleged that Brother Hartman also pulled his hair and physically assaulted him. The alleged abuse, he said, had a profound effect on his life.
"After more than 30 years I am still suffering. My innocence has been taken by a man of God, Brother Hartman," he told police. Not a man of God, I'm afraid. Not even close.
In a statement tendered in court, one of the alleged female victims said that Hartman molested her between the ages of 5 and 11 in her bedroom after he had been invited around to dinner. She said she would try to avoid going to bed, or pretend to be asleep to deter him, but could not tell her adoptive parents, who were devout Catholics and in awe of Hartman.
"I felt vulnerable to the world. I was not coping. I felt unprotected," she said.
The court heard that the abuse ended when she was 11, but years later she received a love letter from him.
The woman said that when she complained to the Catholic Church's "Towards Healing" office in her early 20s, she was advised not to tell anyone what happened "as it may stir up problems in other people's lives". Good grief! So it's obvious they knew there were more victims.
The police investigation is continuing, conducted by Task Force Sano in the Victoria Police sex crimes squad.
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