An elderly former priest has been granted bail after being charged with the historical sexual assault of a nine-year-old boy at a school at Bathurst, in central western NSW.
Robert Maximus Blumenthal, 85, is charged with two counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 and three counts of sexual intercourse with a person between 10 and under 16 who was under authority.
After his arrest at a Sydney home on Thursday, he appeared in Waverley Local Court.
He was granted $10,000 bail with other conditions including he not contact or go near any prosecution witness or enter any point of departure from Australia.
The case was adjourned to Bathurst Local Court on April 12, where he is to attend via audio visual link.
Police on Friday said Strike Force Belle detectives received a report of the sexual assault of the boy in the mid 80s, leading to Blumenthal's arrest.
He is the 14th priest or former priest to be charged by the strike force, established in 2008 to investigate the sexual and indecent assaults of students at two secondary colleges in Bathurst between 1960 and 1993.
