UC Reverend charged with Port Douglas sex offence
POLICE BRIEF
A Victorian man is facing charges of five counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 at alleged incidents in Port Douglas and the Gold Coast.?
The 73-year-old man was extradited from Victoria yesterday and has been charged in relation to the alleged incidents, which are said to have occurred between 1995 and 1997.
Gold Cost media outlets have reported the man is former Uniting Church Reverend Maurice Wildish, who was a Reverend at a Uniting Church on the Gold Coast at the time of the alleged offending.
It is alleged the man indecently touched the girl at a Carrara residence between 1995 and 1996 and at a Port Douglas motel in 1997.
Detectives from the Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit commenced an investigation in 2015.
As a result of extensive and protracted investigations, on Sunday March 17 Victorian police arrested Wildish at Swan Hill yesterday and he was soon extradited to Queensland to face the charges put against him.
His matter was heard at the Southport Magistrate’s Court on the Gold Coast this morning and he has been remanded in custody to reappear tomorrow, 21 March.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
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