Catholic Diocese Bails Out Priest; Archdiocese Does Not Approve

An Australian priest was arrested on charges of grooming a child for sex after sexually explicit online chats with a police officer posing as a 13 year old girl. The bishop of the Western Sydney diocese, Father Terry Bell, offered $25,000 towards Robert Fuller's bail, as well as offering accommodation at a church-owned property.

Despite Father Bell's offer, the Archdiocese of Sydney has released a statement stating that Father Fuller is responsible for his own legal costs. "The Archdiocese does not contribute to these costs or provide sureties for bail, and Father Fuller's case is no exception," the Archdiocese said.

Read more here.

Austrailian Judge Rules Out Bail Despite Full Prisons

A remand centre prisoner's bid to be released on bail because of record overcrowding in Canberra's detention system failed in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Chris Merritt, who is facing charges that include assault and property damage, had applied to the court for bail, arguing he could not be held humanely in the ACT's overflowing system.

He also argued that Corrections authorities could not provide adequate medical treatment for an injury to his hand.

The system has been under increasing pressure since the ACT's new jail, the $123million Alexander Maconochie Centre in Hume, failed to open on time last week, throwing into chaos plans to transfer detainees from Belconnen and Symonston remand centres, and sentenced prisoners from NSW.

Glitches with the new jail's electronic security system have forced the opening to be delayed at least until January and security contractor Chubb is paying the ACT Government $44,000 a day in compensation.

Merritt had argued through his lawyers that the system was not providing him with adequate treatment for a broken hand which he suffered in an altercation with another detainee.

Australian Refused Bail in "Bizarre and Evil" Religious Sexual Assault Charges

An Australian churchgoer accused of sexually assaulting a woman during prayer sessions meant to lift a black magic curse on her was refused bail Sunday, it was reported.

A magistrate described the allegations against 61-year-old Sydney man Tony Golossian as "bizarre and evil" and declined to grant him bail, Australian Associated Press reported.

"Having read the allegations ... I must say that if this is proven it would be one of the most bizarre and evil cases I have come across in more than 40 years," magistrate Graham Johnson told a court in Sydney's western suburbs.

Golossian has been charged with more than 150 offences dating from 2001 to 2005.

New South Wales police alleged the woman approached Golossian, who claimed to be a senior member of the Coptic Orthodox church, for spiritual cleansing believing she had been cursed by a member of Sydney's Greek community.

Police alleged she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted at "prayer sessions" that took place at various hotels around western Sydney.

Bail Laws Create Problems

The Law Society of New South Wales says tough bail laws introduced last year need to be reconsidered because they are causing overcrowding in the state's juvenile detention centres.

The laws restrict the number of times people can apply for bail for serious offences and place a presumption against bail on certain crimes.

Since the legislation was introduced, about half of all juvenile prisoners are being kept in jail on remand - meaning they have been denied bail, but not yet convicted in court.

The NSW Law Society's president, Hugh Macken, has told the ABC's Background Briefing it shows the bail laws are counterproductive.

"We would like to have the matter revisited," he said.

"Clearly the statistics might show the Government that perhaps it hasn't worked quite as they intended to work, and they can revisit this issue without necessarily go back to an earlier system."

You can hear more on that story on Radio National's Background Briefing on Sunday at 9:00am (AEST).