AUSTRALIA
Sky News
An inquiry has opened in Newcastle into an alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The special commission of inquiry began on Monday with an opening address by counsel assisting, Julia Lonergan SC.
Over the next fortnight Commissioner Margaret Cunneen will investigate the circumstances in which Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, whose allegations of a church cover-up sparked the inquiry, was asked to stop probing certain matters.
She will hear evidence from senior police including two assistant commissioners and two superintendents, as well as former policeman and now state Nationals MP Troy Grant.
The inquiry will concentrate on two priests, serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted pedophile Father James Fletcher, both now dead.
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