Former Marist College Canberra teacher Malcolm Dickson to face ACT Supreme Court trial

Police allege a former Marist teacher plied a boy with alcohol and sexually abused him more than 40 years ago.

Malcolm Dickson leaves court after an appearance in October 2023. Picture: Sam Turner

A former Marist teacher is set to fight allegations he sexually abused a homeless boy in Canberra more than 40 years ago.

Maroubra man Malcolm John Dickson was committed to the ACT Supreme Court for trial on Thursday, having pleaded not guilty to five historical child sex abuse charges.

Dickson, who is aged in his mid-80s, is charged with three counts of indecent assault on a male and two counts of buggery.

He was excused from attending the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, when magistrate Ian Temby made the committal orders in his absence.

Detectives from ACT Policing’s sexual assault and child abuse team allege Dickson plied a 15-year-old homeless boy with alcohol and instructed him to remove his clothes before sexually assaulting him at an apartment in the Canberra suburb of Hughes in August 1980.

The coat of arms outside the ACT Magistrates Court, which committed Malcolm Dickson for trial on Thursday. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Police have said Dickson was a 41-year-old lay teacher at Marist College Canberra at the time of the alleged incident.

Dickson’s case is due to go before the Supreme Court registrar for an administrative hearing later this month.