Archdiocese rejects George Pell’s evidence over sex abuse, by Tessa Akerman, Australian (November 03, 2016)

The Archdiocese of Melbourne has flatly rejected Cardinal George Pell’s key evidence to the child sex abuse royal commission that he was purposely deceived by the Catholic Education Office over pedophile priest Peter Searson.

The issue of his handling of Searson has dogged Cardinal Pell, with counsel assisting the royal commission recommending this week that Cardinal Pell’s evidence be rejected.

Searson was the parish priest of Doveton between 1984 and 1997 when he was placed on administrative leave by then archbishop Pell but in 1989 the cardinal played a key role in dealing with serious complaints against Searson.

Searson died in 2009 and was never charged with any offences in relation to sexual abuse of children, but there had been complaints he had sexually abused children, took a handgun to school and showed children a body in a coffin.

When Cardinal Pell gave evidence in March from Rome to the commission he said it was an “incorrect assumption” that he was told what the education office knew when he received a delegation from it in November 1989 and agreed it had deceived him.

In its submission, however, the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Truth, Justice and Healing Council said it accepted counsel assisting’s submissions that the commission should reject this evidence.

“No officer or employee of the CEO deliberately withheld information from Cardinal Pell, or deliberately set out to deceive him,” they said.

Counsel assisting said there was insufficient evidence available to make a finding about what information was conveyed to Cardinal Pell in the briefing but it included at least information that there had been an allegation of sexual misconduct by Searson.

Counsel for Cardinal Pell, Sam Duggan, submitted the cardinal welcomed evidence from the education office that any non-disclosure was not born out of any intention to deceive him.

“Ultimately, it is most probable that (then) Bishop Pell was not told about historical allegations of sexual misconduct by the (office) because it was the view of its officers that Bishop Pell was not part of the decision-making process, and there was no point in providing that information to him,” Mr Duggan said.

Cardinal Pell said in March that the education office may have deceived him because he was known to be capable of being outspoken. He went on to say the office was “very keen” to keep the lid on the situation and he was told there were problems but they were insufficient to remove Searson.

Searson operated under then archbishop Frank Little and the archdiocese. The Truth, Justice and Healing Council submitted Little’s inaction on Searson needed to be viewed in light of his conduct, decisions and inaction in relation to other priests considered by the commission in the archdiocese. “It is against this background that the position of others should be evaluated,” the council and the archdiocese said.

They submitted members of the archdiocese had to operate within a “flawed system” which turned on the judgment of the archbishop.