AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By JASON GORDON May 8, 2013
FORMER police officer Troy Grant has told the Special Commission of Inquiry into the handling of child sex abuse claims that he never used the term ‘‘Catholic mafia’’ and had never encountered any interference from police during his investigations into paedophilia by priests.
Mr Grant, now state MP for Dubbo, described Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox as ‘‘a meticulous investigator’’ but he denied ever saying to him that a ‘‘Catholic mafia’’ existed within the ranks of Newcastle police.
On Monday, Mr Fox had told the inquiry that Mr Grant had warned him about a ‘‘Catholic mafia’’. The claim was made in the context that police investigations into the alleged cover-up of child sex abuse by Catholic priests had been shelved or hampered.
As a police officer, Mr Grant investigated and charged paedophile priest Vince Ryan in 1995. Ryan was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in jail for offences relating to 31 victims.
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