A CATHOLIC priest has been convicted of child sex offences dating back to the 1970s.Terrence Melville Pidoto, 62, of Bacchus Marsh, was found guilty of 11 charges, including one count of rape, one count of buggery and seven counts of indecent assault.
Pidoto was ordained into the priesthood in 1971 and worked in Heidelberg, Box Hill North and Kilmore during the 1970s and early '80s.
Seven people made allegations against Pidoto resulting in 22 charges.
A County Court jury yesterday convicted the priest on the evidence of four complainants and delivered not guilty verdicts in relation to three others.
The four victims, all male, were aged between 14 and 20 at the time of the offences.
One victim gave evidence in court that Pidoto had sex with him and inappropriately touched him in a church seminary.
In court, Pidoto dismissed the victim's evidence as "enormous lies" and said he could not even remember the boy.
Another victim told the court Pidoto drove him to a secluded spot where he indecently assaulted him and raped him.
The priest pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial before Judge Ross Howie concluded yesterday after a jury deliberated for five hours before returning its verdict.
In 2001 Pidoto was jailed for indecently assaulting a boy in the 1970s. But his conviction was quashed on appeal.
Pidoto will remain on bail until sentencing in September.
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