AUSTRALIA
The Age
December 8, 2015
Jane Lee
Victoria Police will apologise and pay compensation to a former detective more than 30 years after senior officers covered up his investigation into child abuse allegations against a Catholic priest.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday heard from Denis Ryan, who had doggedly investigated allegations of child sexual abuse against Monsignor John Day in Mildura under intense pressure to stop. His superiors later took over the investigation and cleared Day of any wrongdoing.
Police tried to force Mr Ryan to transfer to another station in 1972, and he ultimately resigned from the force.
Mr Ryan broke down as he told the commission he had had nightmares of children being abused by Day: “Those children were being mentally and physically destroyed by Day and the police protected him. Ballarat Bishop [Ronald] Mulkearns also protected him. I wonder how many kids would have been saved if Victoria Police had gone on with the inquiry into Day.”
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