By a Broken Rites researcher

• Article posted 17 March 2013.

A Catholic priest, now aged 77, is facing multiple charges of sexually abusing a number of children in Queensland during an earlier part of his career, while he was working in parishes of the Brisbane archdiocese.

The case came up, for a brief introductory procedure, in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on 12 March 2012. (Beenleigh, which is south of Brisbane, is within the Brisbane Catholic archdiocese.)

The priest, who cannot be named at this early state of the court process, is charged with 57 counts of indecent treatment of children and one count of common assault, allegedly committed between 1977 and 1988. Police obtained statements from more than a dozen former school pupils (including some from the Beenleigh area and some from the Salisbury area).

The priest was not required to attend court on this first mention day. The magistrate adjourned the case to a later date for the next step in the process.

The priest, who began his career more than 50 years ago, is now retired. According to documents presented in court, he lives in Boronia Heights, near Brisbane.

The police investigator was Detective Senior Constable Duncan Blackbkurn, from the Child Safety and Sexual Crime Group at the Queensland Police State Crime Operations Command.