AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN APRIL 15, 2014
A FORMER policeman employed by the Salvation Army to investigate child abuse committed by its officers says the organisation is unable to cope with the number of cases being brought against it.
John Greville yesterday told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he was one of two full-time investigators employed by the church, which has received about 200 allegations of historical abuse so far this year.
“They’re not coping very well at all. We need to respond to all the victims who are making reports as well as keeping up with the current caseload,” Mr Greville said.
The former NSW detective, whose contract with the church ends in two weeks, was also critical of some senior officers within the church regarding its own internal investigations. “They obviously don’t appreciate the seriousness with which some of these processes need to be undertaken,” he said.
He was particularly critical of the church’s handling of child abuse allegations against senior officer Colin Haggar, who confessed to sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl in regional NSW in 1990.
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