Ray Pethybridge, father of senior Salvation Army leader, to face child sex charge trial
THE father of a high-ranking Salvation Army Australia official will stand trial on multiple child sex offences allegedly committed while he was working as a court chaplain for the church.
Ray Pethybridge, whose son Lieutenant Colonel Kelvin Pethybridge is the Salvation Army Eastern Territory chief, appeared briefly in the Sydney District Court on Friday.
Mr Pethybridge, who is on bail, will face a trial next year on multiple sexual offence charges including alleged indecent assaults on at least three girls under the age of 16.
The allegations against Mr Pethybridge date back to at least 2006 when he worked as a court chaplain assisting witnesses in hearings, and in church hostels for the homeless.
A letter tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse last year suggests the Salvation Army was aware of some of the allegations made against Mr Pethybridge but dismissed a complaint as being based on a fabrication.
NSW District Court chief judge Justice Derek Price set down a three- to four-week trial for Mr Pethybridge next May.
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