October 19, 2012
The Age
Jane Lee
Victoria Police (PDF)
says the Catholic Church has exacerbated the scourge
of sexual abuse in the community by protecting clergy accused of abuse
and not referring victims' reports to police.
Deputy Police commissioner Graham Ashton was one of the first
people to give testimony at the first hearing of the state inquiry into
the handling of sexual abuse by religious and other organisations
today.
"Sexual offending in our community is increasing ... in any large
cross-section of any community you will get sexual offending," he said.
"Victoria Police has concerns that existing protocols within
religious organisations may be more focused on internal church issues
such as legal liability and public relations rather than long-term
interest of victims."
He was sceptical of the Church's submission to the inquiry,
which stated it had reversed its long-held position against mandatory
reporting of abuse, except in circumstances where it needed to uphold
the sanctity of the confessional.
"The Catholic Church have said that their protocols have
changed ... if they're serious then they should be reporting rather than
waiting for victims to come forward."
Mr Ashton said the Church's current protocol for handling child
sexual allegations - its internal complaints systems Towards Healing and
the Melbourne Archdiocese's Melbourne Response - lacked transparency
and drove under-reporting of sexual abuse, as well as heightening adult
impacts of abuse.
He questioned the need for either internal process to exist,
saying the Church's protocols are "based on a flawed notion of
independence" with Melbourne Response's independent commissioner Peter
O'Callaghan, QC, appointed and paid for by the church.
"If a stranger were to enter the grounds of a church and rape
the child then that rape would be reported to police and action
expected," Mr Ashton said.
"But if that stranger happens to be a member of the clergy,
such as a priest, the matter would not be ... a special process is
wrapped around him which discourages a victim to complain to police,
seeks to ensure the offending clergy member is not only not prosecuted
and jailed, but never entered on the sex offenders register."
He told the committee that Victoria Police had conducted its
largest analysis of child sexual abuse in religious organisations,
taking in cases reported to it since 1956, but had not had a single
referral from the Church in that time.
Mr Ashton's testimony ended with a small round of applause
from some in the audience of about 50 people, which included victims,
victims' advocates and journalists.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten