AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM
MARK COLVIN: On its second day of hearings, the child abuse royal commission has heard some stunning admissions from New South Wales Police and Scouts Australia.
The former chief executive of New South Wales Scouts said the organisation had failed other children besides those abused by the convicted paedophile Steven Larkins.
Another scout official said there were concerns about how the allegations about Larkins would damage the reputation of scouts.
Today’s hearing also offered some insights into the attitudes of police investigating child sexual abuse matters in the 1990s.
Emily Bourke reports.
EMILY BOURKE: More than a decade before Steven Larkins was convicted and jailed for child sex offences, his conduct with children had made it into the scouts’ internal records, known as the behavioural files.
In 1997, Larkins had been seen approaching children at a local swimming pool, prompting scout official Allan Currie to caution Larkins in writing.
He explained his approach to the royal commission.
ALLAN CURRIE: At the time, I don’t know why because I was only fairly new at the job and had no training whatsoever in this sort of area, but yes, I would have been trying to preserve the good name of the scouts, but would have taken necessary action if required.
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