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  Call for Church to Protect Little Ones

Courier Mail
March 2, 2008

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23307691-3102,00.html

QUEENSLAND'S Children's Commissioner is calling on the Anglican Church to "show they have done enough" to protect children at a controversial Brisbane parish, which contains a convicted pedophile priest, an alleged pedophile and a practising priest with his own seedy past .

Commissioner Elizabeth Fraser said she was concerned "a convicted pedophile may be in positions of a church where there are not appropriate safeguards in place".

The parish council at Fortitude Valley's Holy Trinity Church has challenged reintegration protocols regarding convicted pedophile Robert Francis Sharwood claiming they are "oppressive".

"The church needs to provide leadership by demonstrating that they have done enough to protect vulnerable people, including children and young people," Ms Fraser said.

"We are not aware of any breaches under our Act, but we are very concerned that a convicted pedophile may be in positions of a church where there are not appropriate safeguards in place."

Anglican Church Brisbane Bishop John Parkes yesterday maintained the church was providing a safe environment for children and parishioners, but admitted he was disappointed the Holy Trinity parish council had challenged some of the protocols regarding Sharwood.

"The parish has not fully implemented the protocol and conversations with the parish are continuing, but they have fully implemented that part which deals with supervision," he said.

"We are not soft on sexual abuse."

The Courier-Mail last week revealed Sharwood, who was released from jail four months ago after serving one year of a 33-month sentence for sexually assaulting and sodomising a boy in Brisbane more than 30 years ago, was being allowed to sing in the church choir with children.

The paper also revealed Canon Barry John Greaves, who served as a chaplain to both former Archbishop Peter Hollingworth and current Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall and participates in bible readings, will stand trial on child sex abuse charges in August.

The congregation is led by Rector Trevor Bulled, who was convicted of indecent behaviour in a toilet almost 20 years ago and stood aside by the church in 2001 during an unrelated police investigation when his Blue Card was confiscated.

He was cleared and reinstated three years later.

 
 

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