Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Maronite Priest

 

Charge:

Child/Minor Sexual Assault

Sentence:

12 months

Years Imprisoned:

1

Year Crime:

2005

Year Convicted:

2016

Year Cleared:

2017

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

New South Wales

City of Crime:

Sydney

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"A Maronite Christian Priest in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia was wrongly convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in the congregation in 2005. The Priest was a deacon at the church the boy and his parent's attended. His prosecution was based on the accusation of the "boy" in 2015 that ten years earlier the Priest had given him a ride home at the request of his mother, and he had fallen asleep, but when he awoke the Priest was rbbing his genitals. There was no other evidence offered against the Priest except for the complainant's testimony. The Priest's defense was the event didn't happen. Faced with a "He said, He said" case, the jury convicted the Priest. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison. The Priest appealed. During the appeals hearing held on August 30, 2017 the Priests lawyer, Phillip Boulton, argued that the complainant's testimony the alleged assault was a "watershed moment in his life" that caused him to walk away from the church was false. A video of the priest's 2006 ordination at the packed church shows the complainant "vigorously applauding" and it also shows the complainant being blessed by the Priest. Also, years later the complainant was still involved in the church and even went to confession with the Priest. On August 30, 2017, after hearing the arguments, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal issued an oral ruling from the bench quashing the Maronite Priest's conviction and ordering his acquittal based on insufficient evidence of his guilt -- due to the unreliability of the complainant and his evidence -- and ordered his immediate release from prison. The appeals court stated that it would issue a written ruling later."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On August 30, 2017 the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the Maronite Priest's conviction based on insufficient evidence -- due to the unreliability of the complainant and his evidence."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

40

Age When Released:

41

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Priest's sexual assault conviction quashed, By Staff, 9News.com.au, August 30, 2017"

Information Location 1:

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/08/30/13/57/nsw-priest-appeals-sex-offence-conviction

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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