Catholic Church procedures criticised in sex abuse inquiry

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

AAP
January 17, 2013

AN inquiry into the way the Catholic Church handled child sex abuse accusations against one of its priests has strongly criticised church procedures.

Had the protocols of today been in force in the early 1980s, the abuse by the priest – identified only as Father F – could have been stopped in its tracks, the report says.

Two of those abused by Father F, at Moree in northern NSW, subsequently committed suicide.

In the report released today, former Federal Court judge Antony Whitlam found there was no cover-up in the way the church responded to complaints against Father F.

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