Police Obfuscation Undermines Child Sex Abuse Inquiry: Frank Brennan

By John Ferguson
The Australian
July 29, 2016

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One of Australia’s most respected Catholics has lashed out at Victoria Police’s handling of the George Pell sex abuse alle­gations, reigniting a long-running feud about the way the force has treated the church.

Father Frank Brennan has warned that “police obfuscation’’ and “media titillation’’ has the potential to undermine the child sex abuse royal commission and to inflict further damage on victims.

Father Brennan has also ­lamented that a key “witness’’ to allegedly sexual behaviour by Cardinal Pell towards children took nearly 30 years to report the matter to police,

In an article published in today’s The Weekend Australian, Father Brennan has warned that if Cardinal Pell were found to be an abuser, he should be ousted from the Vatican.

“Make no mistake, if Pell is a child abuser, I want him out of the Vatican and out of the way of children,’’ he says. “But if he’s not, I want the Victoria Police to come clean and get back to routine policing, rather than media titillation, for the wellbeing of all of us.’’