Scipione welcomes abuse report

AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says the senior officers caught up in allegations of cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle can now hold their heads up high.

A four-volume Special Commission of Inquiry report, released on Friday, uncovered no evidence to show senior police officers tried to block the child abuse investigations.

The inquiry found Detective Inspector Peter Fox – who alleged there had been a cover up – was not a credible witness and also said it was appropriate for police to instruct him to stop his own investigations.

The inquiry looked at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher, both now dead.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.