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	Hunter Paedophile Network Warning to Police By Joanne Mccarthy Newcastle Herald September 17, 2010 http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/hunter-paedophile-network-warning-to-police/1944241.aspx NSW Police were warned six years ago to set up a taskforce to investigate a possible Catholic Church "paedophile network" in the Hunter Region that included paedophile priests and other clergy who allegedly "assisted to conceal" them. The recommendation was made in an internal 2004 police report that was not acted on, which noted the NSW Ombudsman's office was also advised of "concerns". It was not until after Newcastle Herald reports in 2007 revealed Monsignor Patrick Cotter's cover-up of priest Vince Ryan's child sex crimes that police established Strikeforce Georgiana at Lake Macquarie Local Area Command to prosecute paedophile priests. It was not until this week that police confirmed a formal investigation into the alleged cover-up of notorious Hunter paedophile priest Denis McAlinden by senior Catholic clergy, one of only a handful of such investigations yet held in Australia. NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos, Police Minister Michael Daley and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione received letters of complaint from at least two Hunter paedophile priest victims, or their representatives, in June requesting a formal police investigation of the McAlinden case and alleging the "possible cover-up of paedophiles" by the church. The letters were prompted by Herald reports that used church documents to reveal the attempted secret defrocking of McAlinden in 1995 "for the good of the church", and with assurances that his "good name would be protected by the confidential nature of this process". Mr Hatzistergos declined yesterday to answer questions about the letters, saying "As these matters are currently the subject of police investigations, it would be inappropriate to comment". A copy of the letter to Mr Hatzistergos was forwarded to Michael Daley's office, then NSW Parliamentary Secretary Angela D'Amore's office, and to Commissioner Scipione's office on August 20 for "consideration of the matters raised". A request for a police investigation of the alleged McAlinden cover-up was also considered by the State Crime Command sex crimes unit in the past two months. A victim of Denis McAlinden, who made a statement about his offending to the then Maitland-Newcastle diocese priest and current Australian Bishops Conference president Archbishop Philip Wilson in 1995, said she was "very pleased" that police were investigating events related to the attempted secret defrocking.
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