Wilson was last week convicted of concealing child sexual abuse allegations against paedophile priest Father Jim Fletcher.

In a statement to Fairfax Media, a Cessnock City Council spokesperson said due to the “serious and heinous nature” of the conviction, Cr Pynsent had taken immediate measures to remove Wilson.

Those measures involved Cr Pynsent using his power under section 226(d) of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW).

Section 226(d) of the Act allows the mayor, in cases of necessity, to exercise policy making functions in-between council meetings.

Wilson was inducted into the Cessnock Hall of Fame during the inaugural award ceremony in December, 2006. He was acknowledged for his contributions to the Catholic Church.

Wilson’s hall of fame biography, which has been removed from the Cessnock Council website, said Wilson was born in Cessnock in 1950 and educated at St Patrick's Primary School before attending St Joseph 's College at Hunters Hill.

He was ordained into the priesthood for the Maitland Diocese in 1975, and served at East Maitland.

He held several key positions in the Maitland Dioceses before moving on to Wollongong and then Adelaide.

It was during his time in Maitland as a junior priest in 1976 that then-alter boy Peter Creigh allegedly told Wilson that Father Fletcher had subjected him to acts of punishment and sexual abuse about five years earlier when Mr Creigh was 10-years-old. Fletcher died in jail in 2006.