AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 16, 2012

Rory Callinan

AN ARMIDALE priest suspected of child abuse was assisted by a ”mate” who was a policeman to bring blackmail charges against one his former altar boy victims, court transcripts reveal.

The charges resulted in the victim, Daniel Powell, going on trial and appeared to permanently halt police investigations into his allegations of abuse.

Mr Powell was found not guilty of blackmail in 2004 but committed suicide in 2007. The priest, whose name was suppressed during the proceedings, admitted under cross examination during Mr Powell’s trial that he had told senior church officials in 1992 that he had sexually abused children.

The Catholic Church’s handling of the priest, dubbed Father F, has come under scrutiny after a recent Four Corners investigation. It has raised questions as to whether the church should have reported him to police, rather than taking internal disciplinary…