AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
THE last time I saw John was in late September.
He slipped into a public gallery seat in Newcastle Supreme Court. It was the final public hearing day of the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into NSW Police and Catholic Church handling of child sex allegations.
John was one of the regulars. He nodded and smiled to others – victims of child sex abuse and their parents, like him – who have sat in the gallery since the inquiry started in May.
He smiled at me where I sat in seats taken over by journalists. I smiled back.
We first spoke in September 2007. I found his name in some documents and gave him a call. By that stage he wasn’t an employee of the Catholic Church any more.
He was guarded, careful.
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