AUSTRALIA
News Mail
VICTIMS of child sex abuse were met with hostility and denied compensation by a church that failed to discipline predator priests or report their actions to the police, a royal commission has found.
Almost a year after decades of abuse at Lismore’s North Coast Children’s home was uncovered at a series of hearings in Sydney, the commission has condemned the Anglican Diocese of Grafton for its handling of the claims which were dealt with “contrary to the spirit” of pastoral care guidelines.
The commission found the physical, psychological and sexual abuse suffered by children at the home had “profound, long-lasting impacts on their lives and mental health”.
Last year’s public hearings examined the response of senior Grafton clergy members to a group claim between 2005 and 2013.
Giving evidence before the commission, former Grafton registrar Pat Comben insisted that for much of that period, the diocese was asset rich but “cash poor”.
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