A court hearing on charges of nine counts of aggravated sexual touching against a Greek Orthodox priest in NSW is set to conclude today, Wednesday 12 July.
Father Mario “George” Fayjloun, was undertaking duties as a priest between August 2019 and February 2020 and was connected to the Central Mangrove Greek Orthodox congregation.
As reported by the Australian, the Liverpool Local Court heard this week that the hieromonk of Lebanese background had made unwanted sexual advances towards a mother and two of her daughters during visits to the Sydney family home providing spiritual guidance.
Prosecutors allege the 35-year-old sexually touched the women – one of whom was under-age at the time – in separate alleged incidents.
The accusations relate to alleged incidents at the dinner table before sharing a meal with the family and one alleged incident at the Greek Orthodox Church in Central Mangrove NSW after a private confession.
During this week’s hearing, his barrister, Clive Steirn SC, told the court that the priest denies the allegations and claims the sexual touching between him and the mother had been consensual.
The defence said the allegations against the priest were fabricated “because of the close relationship between the daughters and the mother”, with the aim of “supporting” their mother after their father discovered the mother’s consensual relationship with Father Fayjloun.
The court also heard that one of the two daughters made accusations at a later date to the mother and her sister, and that no messages between the women and the priest were found, when Detective Senior Constable Kench assessed his phone after his arrest.
Screenshots of WhatsApp messages reportedly formed part of the women’s evidence.
Father Fayjloun had entered pleas of not guilty to the charges when arrested in September 2019 following an NSW police investigation which began in July that year, after allegations were made by two of the three women, aged 22 and 45 at the time.
