AUSTRALIA
Herald
By Melissa Cunningham
Dec. 11, 2015
FORMER Ballarat Bishop secretary Monsignor Glynn Murphy says despite having knowledge of mounting allegations of sexual abuse against children he never went to police.
Australian army chaplain Monsignor Murphy dealt with sexual abuse allegations from 1993 to 1997 as the special issues committee convenor. He told the inquiry he “implicitly” trusted Bishop Ronald Mulkearns to pass complaints onto police.
“Did I have faith and trust that the Bishop would follow through with information I gave him, yes I did,” he said. “There was no indication to me that he was not passing on any material that he should pass on.”
The inquiry also heard there was a Ballarat policeman on the church committee but no abuse claims were reported to authorties.
The culture of secrecy and concealment of child sex crimes was further exposed at the inquiry with Monsignor Murphy admitting Bishop Mulkearns kept locked files on priests and did not disclose information to other clergy.
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