Abuse allegations priest arrested
Former monk detained in Australia awaiting extradition
A former Catholic monk accused of child abuse at a Scottish school has been arrested in Australia, it has been reported.
A TV report has said Father Denis “Chrysostom” Alexander had been remanded in custody in Sydney pending his extradition back to Scotland to face trial.
He is one of several monks accused of abusing boys at the former Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in the Highlands.
The Crown Office declined to comment.
Father Alexander has always denied the allegations.
In 2013, he was confronted by BBC Scotland in Sydney as part of a documentary which led to a police investigation.
He is expected to face a further hearing on Wednesday at the local court in New South Wales, where it will emerge if he will oppose the extradition or not.
Run by Catholic Benedictine monks, Fort Augustus Abbey school in the Highlands closed in 1993.
Allegations of decades of child sexual and physical abuse at the boarding school were made public in June 2013.
One other former Fort Augustus monk is due to face trial in Scotland soon for a series assaults, whilst a further seven cases remain under consideration by the Crown Office in Scotland.
Fr Alexander’s accusers have previously spoken of their frustration at the time it has taken the authorities to act.
The report said Fr Alexander was returned by the Catholic Church to Australia in 1979 after allegations of abuse were made by a Fort Augustus Abbey pupil.
None of the allegations were reported to the police and no warnings were made to the Church in Australia, where Fr Alexander continued as a priest for a further 20 years.
DOCUMENTARY “Fr Alexander was returned by the Catholic Church to Australia in 1979 after allegations of abuse were made by a Fort Augustus Abbey pupil”