‘Concerns of what access he’d have to children’: Big call over grooming allegations against ex-priest

Concerns have been raised over whether an ex-priest had access to children after he was arrested in Sydney’s west over alleged grooming offences. Detectives in a task force targeting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children online earlier this month began investigating allegations a religious leader was grooming a teenage boy. Guy Norman Hartcher, 77, was arrested in Pendle Hill about midday on Monday. Sex Crimes Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty said the investigation was launched after the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children was tipped off by Facebook about an account that was sharing child abuse material overseas earlier this year. Detectives — under the guise of a 14-year-old boy — then engaged with the owner of the account, who police will allege was Mr Hartcher, a 77-year-old former priest. “Investigators purporting to be a 14-year-old boy chatted online with that person who then shared with us a number of sexually explicit photographs and discussed in detail sexual acts that he would like to commit with that 14-year-old boy,” Superintendent Doherty said. “Police will allege that that 77-year-old male arranged yesterday to meet with what he believed to be the 14-year-old boy at Pendle Hill.” Mr Hartcher arrived about 12.15pm on Monday and was immediately arrested in Pendle Hill. A number of devices including USBs and floppy discs have been seized from Mr Hartcher. “Certainly the conversation that we will allege he had with this person he believed to be 14 indicated that he had similar conversations previously,” Superintendent Doherty said.“It’s extremely serious — we have a person a 77 -year-old male who we allege has turned up to meet a 14-year-old boy for sexual activity, there is no more serious or grave offence against a child.” Superintendent Doherty said Mr Hartcher was “certainly surprised” when detectives showed up instead of a teenage boy, and he declined an opportunity to be interviewed following legal advice. Superintendent Doherty said while he was a retired priest, “retired priests we’re aware do still have some involvement in community”. “In relation to this particular individual we do have concerns of what access he’d have to children, but we have those concerns over any referral that we get.” Mr Hartcher was taken to Granville Police Station and charged with use carriage service – procure under 16 years for sex with another and use carriage service to send indecent material to person under 16. He fronted Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday. Mr Hartcher was granted conditional bail so long as a $10,000 security agreement is paid and he surrenders his phone when requested by police. He cannot own or possess a mobile phone for any reason other than making medical or legal appointments, and he cannot contact any children under 16 years of age or go within 500m of any school or childcare facility. Mr Hartcher also must present to the police station once per day every day of the week. Superintendent Doherty said people who would “like to abuse children” come from “all walks of life”, and said the Catholic Church had been “proactive and cooperative with police” in recent years related to “education and information in relation to anyone that may be seeking to abuse children”. She noted police would work with the church if anything came up from the items seized from the man, but declined to comment further on the church. Superintendent Doherty issued a warning to parents following the arrest. “The online exploitation of children is a very real thing in our community today — parents need to be aware of how easy it can be for their children to discuss online sexual acts with people they do not know,” she said. “The internet is like the real world — there are places your children can go on their own and places that they should be accompanied by you. “Parents should always be aware of who their children are speaking to and make sure that their children know if they are speaking with anyone that is asking them to do something that they know is not right that they should go to their parents or a trusted adult.” She also acknowledged Christmas is a particularly difficult time for parents to keep track of their children’s online activity. “We do find parents are very busy at the moment — we’re running around, we’re trying to get everything ready for Christmas, we’re doing a lot of things, and we tend to leave our kids online a lot on their own,” she said. “As I said, be aware of who your kids are talking to. “The internet can be a fun, exciting, educating place for children, but we need to make it a safe place. “That’s through parents being aware of who their children are talking to, and have that level of supervision that is appropriate to your child’s age and maturity level.” Investigations under the taskforce remain ongoing.