Angus Hohenboken | August 27, 2008
A POLICE investigation into claims of sexual abuse at a NSW catholic school involves a number of former staff.
St Stanislaus College principal John Edwards today said he was served with a search warrant last month which listed the names of three former staff members."There were three former staff members who were listed on the search warrant that was served on me in early July, and we facilitated the gathering of material for police," Mr Edwards told Fairfax Radio Network.
"I'm not able to comment any further."
A 65-year-old former priest at the private school in Bathurst, in central-western NSW, is facing 33 charges, following allegations of a paedophile ring comprising priests and teachers at the private school during the 1980s.
Mr Edwards said he became aware of the allegations "several years ago" when, he said, he referred the claims to police.
Detective Mick Goodwin of Chiefly Local Area Command told reporters the allegations related to 13 victims, but said he could not say how many former staff members were under investigation.
There was no suggestion any alleged offenders still remained at the school.
"The allegations centre around the period of 1970 to the early 1980s so at this stage all the enquiries are at least over 20 years old," Detective Goodwin said.
He urged other potential victims to contact police.
"I'd imagine it would be very hard for anyone that's subject to these sort of things to come forward," he said.
"All I can say is the NSW Police Force will be providing every form of support we possibly can to make the process for them as trouble-free as possible.
with AAP
