Brother on Vic child sex assault charges

An American Catholic brother has appeared in a Melbourne court on 18 charges of indecently assaulting two girls and two boys.

Bernard Joseph Hartman, 74, is accused of assaulting the children at Altona between 1976 and 1982.

He appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday for the first day of a pre-trial committal hearing but the court was closed to the public for most of the day.

Hartman is charged with 14 counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency with a girl under 16 and two counts of assault.

The hearing resumes on Tuesday.