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Rex
World News

Catholic Priest jailed for 12 years in Australia

by Hannah Tooley

According to ABC Australia, David Rapson has been sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for the rape and indecent assault of six boys in Victoria during the 1970's, 80's and 90's.

Melbourne County Court heard that the defrocked priest abused boys as young as 11 or 12 when he taught them at boarding school.

The judge described him as a "sexual predator seeking sexual fulfilment at the expense of young boys," and added that Rapson displayed "cruelty and violence bordering on being sadistic".

Rapson will be eligible for parole in 2023. One of his victims said the verdict had given him closure.

He said: "I'm glad it's finally over. It's taken a big toll on us all and hopefully it's the last of it and we can move on as best we can.

"It's impacted my life in a big way - crime, drug abuse, things like that - and because he held the position he held in the church I couldn't tell my parents or anyone like that what happened until probably four years ago.

"He's just a sadist, a disgusting person and human being."

Last year Rapson was jailed for 13 years for the abuse of eight boys, however the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed those convictions, on the grounds that the charges should have been prosecuted separately.

The retrial at the Victorian County Court covered the abuse of six victims.

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