A former Ballarat Diocese Christian brother who is pleading guilty to evil sex offences had a player welfare role at the Collingwood Football Club during the 1980s.
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Brother John Laidlaw, 80, now of Adelaide, has been charged with seven historic sex charges allegedly committed between 1963 and 1984.
Most of his crimes were committed in Warrnambool, which lies in the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, and Melbourne.
He is scheduled to appear in the Melbourne County Court for a guilty plea hearing on July 3.
According to court documents seen by The Warrnambool Standard, Brother Laidlaw has been charged with five counts of indecent assault and two offences of sexual penetration of a person aged between 16 and 18 years under his care and supervision, the court documents say.
Two of the indecent assault charges are alleged to have been committed in Warrnambool, one during 1963 and the other in 1966.
It's believed all the complainants are former students.
A former champion Collingwood player, who confirmed Brother Laidlaw's involvement at the AFL's most famous club, said the Catholic brother never caused any trouble at Collingwood.
"He was definitely there. There were half-a-dozen blokes who looked after player welfare. They were volunteers and he was one of them," he said.
"From what I saw and what we knew they were all OK. I never saw anything happen involving Brother John. He was fair dinkum and I never saw one thing."
However, the footballer claimed that during his playing days another south-west Victorian export warned him about Brother Laidlaw.
"He told me in very clear terms he (Brother John) was no good," he said.
In 2009, The Age reported Brother Laidlaw's links to Collingwood included a 16-year stint from 1980 working in player welfare.
The Age reported that footy greats Brad and Chris Scott and Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland had been "under his tutelage" and he also coached Collingwood president Eddie McGuire at Christian Brothers College, St Kilda.
"He (Eddie) didn't win the hard ball, but he'd kick it down to the full-forward when it was squirted out to him. That's what I tell him when I see him, anyway," Brother Laidlaw told The Age at the time.
The article also detailed his then part-time role at the National Sports Museum and as team manager for North Old Boys in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
Collingwood Football Club has declined to comment.
The Warrnambool Standard exclusively revealed on Wednesday that Brother Laidlaw, 80, now of Adelaide, has been charged with seven historic sex charges allegedly committed between 1963 and 1984.
His contribution to school and community sport was considered vast, including coaching football, cricket and athletics.
Brother Laidlaw was, more recently, team manager for North Old Boys in the Victorian Amateur Football Association.
Victoria Police Sano Taskforce Detective Senior Constable Colleen Connolly confirmed a plea hearing had been set for July 3 in the Melbourne County Court.
Other offences were alleged to have been committed at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges about June 9, 1976, at Toorak between December 1, 1976, and January 31, 1977, at St Kilda between April 1, 1981, and September 30, 1981 and at Bundoora between January 1, 1984 and September 3, 1984.
Brother Laidlaw is understood to be one of eight Christian Brothers who were honoured at a jubilee celebration in Melbourne because they had spent more than 50 years working in Victoria.
Christian Brothers executive officer of professional standards Shane Wall confirmed Brother Laidlaw was living in the Warrnambool Christian Brothers community between 1963 and 1967.
- The Standard