Jack the Insider: Police Failed to Stop Epidemic of Church Abuse

By Jack The Insider
The Australian
February 8, 2017

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The figure of 4444 people reporting abuse at the hands of Catholic clerics between 1980 and 2015 has seemed staggering to some. I was surprised that people were so shocked.

It is important to note the figure only represents those who have come forward and reported their abuse to some 90-odd Catholic authorities.

The rule of thumb for police investigators like those from VicPol’s Sano Task Force, is for every victim who comes forward, at least four will not.

There are those victims who cannot come forward, who are deceased, their lives often ended by suicide or in a storm of recklessness.

There are others who won’t ever come forward. They may a feel a victim’s shame at the abuse they have suffered. More often they appreciate coming forward will come at significant personal cost, the prospect of family dislocation, the ugly business of clerical sexual abuse meeting religious clannishness.