A Catholic priest alleged to have abused altar boys in the early 1980s was sent to receive counselling from another cleric, who was also allegedly abusing young boys at the time, reports The Australian.
The parents of a boy in Moree, northern NSW, told church officials that Father F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, abused their son as early as 1983.
This allegation was not reported to the police, and Father F was not removed from the clergy but sent to stay with another priest, Paul Rex Brown, in Tweed Heads, on the state's far north coast.
Father Brown was subsequently accused of abusing a 14-year-old boy, who also cannot be named, at about the time of this visit.
In 1996, Father Brown was convicted of possessing child pornography. He died in 2005.
Three years later, a letter sent on behalf of the Catholic diocese of Lismore, and seen by The Australian, confirms the church made a financial settlement with his victim "for loss and damage resulting from the alleged sexual abuse by Father Rex Brown".
Luke Adamson, a lawyer who worked for Father Brown at the time, said Father F was sent there for counselling after the allegations were made in Moree.