Ex-priest who took naked photos of boy goes free
Former Brisbane priest Michael Endicott, who was jailed for historical child sex offences, will be released after an appeal.
Former Brisbane priest Michael Endicott, who was jailed for historical child sex offences, will be released from prison after his convictions were set aside following an appeal.
Endicott, 75, was found guilty last month of taking nude photos of a student from Villanova College, in the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo, in the 1970s.
The former Catholic priest lodged an appeal shortly after his conviction and his lawyer on Tuesday told the Court of Appeal that taking nude photographs of a child was not considered indecent dealing until 1989 when the Criminal Code was amended.
Barrister Deborah Holliday said prior to 1989, there needed to be indecent touching of the child to constitute an offence.
“In relation to these charges, particularised as taking indecent photographs, they have to fall within the law as it existed at that time,” Ms Holliday told the court.
The reasons for the judgment will be handed down by the Court of Appeal at a later date.
On March 11, Endicott was convicted of three counts of indecent treatment of a child and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended after six months.
Endicott was found not guilty of five other charges but the jury found he had taken indecent photos of the boy in 1975, 1979 and 1981.
The court heard that Endicott, who was working as a teacher and priest at the school at the time, allegedly manipulated and coerced the schoolboy to pose naked for the photos.
The first alleged offence took place on a school hiking trip when he asked the boy to accompany him to a creek area in dense bush.
Four years later, Endicott allegedly photographed the boy naked in the school tower, and two years later in a shower on the school grounds.
Trial judge Leanne Clare said Endicott had taken advantage of a power imbalance with his alleged victim.
In 2010, Endicott was convicted of similar historical offences against another Villanova student in 1977 and 1978.
He was given a wholly suspended one-year jail sentence in 2010.
Additional reporting: AAP
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