Three churches in the Australian city of Melbourne – all linked to prominent paedophile priests – have been burnt in the past three days in what is suspected to be a series of revenge attacks.
Police believe the fires are suspicious but have so far found no links between them.
The latest church to be destroyed was St Mary’s Catholic Church, one of several parishes in which Kevin O’Donnell, a notorious paedophile, preyed on children during a 50-year career in Melbourne. The fire started about 2.30am, local time on Tuesday.
O’Donnell, then aged 78, was finally charged and pleaded guilty in 1995 to indecently assaulting ten boys and two girls, aged between eight and 15. He spent 15 months in jail and was freed in 1996 before dying the following year.
Two other churches damaged earlier this week were both linked to Ronald Pickering, who preyed on young boys from 1978 to 1993 before fleeing to Britain. Pickering was never prosecuted but died about three years ago.
At least five of his victims killed themselves.
Peter Elliott, a regional Catholic bishop in the state of Victoria, said he did not believe the fires were started by a sex abuse victim but by someone with a “very disturbed mind”.
“I don’t see any pattern so far, except a very disturbed person,” he told Fairfax Media.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11508463/Three-paedophile-linked-churches-in-Australia-burned-down-in-three-days.html
