AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Nicole Chettle
Fri 17 Oct 2014
A man who was sexually abused by a Sunshine Coast youth pastor as a child says Australian Christian Churches was more concerned with protecting its reputation than protecting him, an inquiry heard.
The Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has completed hearings into the way Pentecostal churches managed complaints of child sexual abuse in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
On the final day of evidence at the Sydney hearing, Peter O’Brien, the lawyer representing a man who was abused by the youth pastor read a statement from his client, known as ALA, that said the past 10 years had been a “living hell”.
“They failed to detect the abuse. They failed to prevent the abuse. They failed to support us through the criminal trial process,” ALA said.
“It appears to me they were more concerned about the reputation and financial position of the ACC (Australian Christian Churches) above all else.”
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