AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury
By ELLE WATSON July 2, 2013
Whistleblower Peter Fox considered charging a senior member of the Catholic clergy who forewarned paedophile priest James Fletcher police were investigating a sexual abuse complaint against him, a Special Commission of Inquiry heard this morning.
The inquiry, that is examining whether the Maitland-Newcastle diocese helped or hindered police investigations, heard Bishop Michael Malone met with Fletcher in 2002 and told him a woman had made a complaint against him.
Detective Chief Inspector Fox said the former Bishop gave the priest the victim’s name.
“I was far from satisfied with what he [Bishop Michael Malone] had told me, I was still contemplating whether he had overstepped the mark and committed an offence,” Inspector Fox told the inquiry.
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