A Catholic brother who sexually abused two girls and a boy while he was a teacher at Altona North has been sentenced to three years’ prison.
Bernard Joseph Hartman, 75, a former biology teacher at St Paul’s College in Altona North, was sentenced in the County Court on Friday.
One year of his sentence has been suspended with a provision that he be supervised for three years.
Hartman will also be placed on the sex offender register for life and must consent to giving a DNA sample to be placed on a database.
Hartman was convicted of historical sexual abuse charges relating to one former student at the boys’ college and two women whose brothers attended the school.
On April 15, Hartman pleaded guilty in the County Court to four counts of indecent assault, including vaginal penetration of two girls, aged eight to 11, in 1981 and 1982.
On May 1, a jury found Hartman guilty of one count of indecent assault and two of common law assault against a man, now 49, who was his student in years 10 and 11 in 1981 and 1982.
Hartman is a brother of the Marianist religious order and had been living with another brother in St Albans since being extradited from the US to face charges in September 2013.
