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Bernard McGrath, a former religious brother, who served two years in a New Zealand prison for sex abuse committed in Christchurch is now being sought by New South Wales police after being charged with 252 offences in a Newcastle court on June 27.
New South Wales police were to extradite McGrath to Australia from Christchurch where he was living. However Fairfax Media reported he was able to leave New Zealand after the charges were lodged, and is believed to staying on a tea plantation in the highlands of Sri Lanka.
New Zealand police told Fairfax the formal extradition request only came through from Interpol on November 15.
It is reported the delay in extraditing McGrath was due to the many levels of bureaucracy involved in the extradition process.
Australia does not have an extradition treaty with Sri Lanka directly. However it can extradite suspects from Sri Lanka under the London Scheme which enables Commonwealth countries to extradite criminals to each other.
Fairfax Media understands that Australian Federal Police based in Sri Lanka have been made aware of McGrath’s presence.
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