Detectives investigating institutional child sexual abuse in a NSW Catholic school have charged a former Canberra headmaster with making false statements to police and perverting the cause of justice.
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On Tuesday, Strike Force Georgiana detectives charged former Marist College Canberra principal Brother Christopher Wade, also known as William Henry Wade, with four offences related to statements he made to police in 2014, the Newcastle Herald reported.
The strike force was formed to investigate child sexual assault offences at the Hamilton Marist Brothers School in Newcastle in the 1960s and 1970s.
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The statements were made during an investigation into another brother who taught at St Edmund's in Canberra, Marist Brother Francis Cable, otherwise known as Brother Romuald.
The statements also related to a second Marist Brother, Darcy O'Sullivan (Brother Dominic).
The 81-year-old was was granted bail to appear in court in Newcastle next month, where police will allege more than 30 incidents were reported to him while he was principal at the school.
Brother Christopher had denied to police that he consulted his superiors on complaints made about brothers at the Newcastle school.
However The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard last year that Brother Romuald had admitted child abuse to Brother Christopher.
The principal said he did not go to police or otherwise follow up on the complaint because he was afraid of Brother Romuald.
Brother Christopher was the headmaster of Marist College Canberra from 1993 until his retirement in 2000.
Current Marist College Canberra headmaster Richard Sidorko was unaware of the new charges against Brother Christopher when contacted by Fairfax Media.
In a statement, Marist Brothers Australia said it would cooperate fully with police but would not comment further while the matter was before the court.
Last year it was revealed Brother Christopher is facing child abuse allegations relating to his time at a school in Kogarah in the 1970s.
Fairfax Media is not suggesting any of the above charges relate to Brother Christopher's time in Canberra.
Earlier this month, figures from the royal commission showed one in five members of the Marist Brothers order had been accused of molesting children.
Across the whole Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra-Gouburn, one in 12 members of religious orders had been accused of child sexual abuse.
