AUSTRALIA
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Royal commission hearings into child sex abuse at St Ann’s special school to go ahead despite Catholic Church concern over timing
BY GINNY STEIN
February 21, 2014
The royal commission has rejected Catholic Church concerns about the timing of hearings into sex abuse in an Adelaide special needs school.
Next month the commission will look into how authorities responded to the abuse at St Ann’s school in the early 1990s.
Parents of the victims hope they will finally get answers about the paedophile bus driver who preyed on up to 30 children, most of whom could not speak.
Earlier this year, lawyers for the church’s insurers wrote to the commission, arguing that hearings could influence compensation settlements.
“If the commission’s investigation occurs before the hearing of the Civil Actions, the plaintiffs in the Civil Actions could have the benefit of seeing the School Entities’ statements, documents and evidence, and being able to plan their litigation strategy accordingly,” the church said in a letter.
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