AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
By JOHN CARNEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cardinal George Pell failed to take direct action against a Melbourne pedophile priest and evidence given by him should be rejected, the royal commission into child sex abuse has been told.
Cardinal Pell – the world’s third most senior Catholic – and other senior Melbourne archdiocesan clergy also failed to exercise proper care for children when dealing with Doveton parish priest Peter Searson, counsel assisting the inquiry said in a submission.
Known for his yellowing long fingernails and icy stare, complaints against Father Searson included keeping a gun at school, showing a body in a coffin to children, sexual contact with children, animal cruelty and holding a knife to a girl’s chest.
Searson was accused of sexual misconduct among a number of accusations while a parish priest under effective control of the now Cardinal Pell in Melbourne’s Doveton parish in the 1980s.
He also stabbed a bird with a screwdriver in front of students, and was accused of making children kneel between knees and sit on lap during confession, during which he had a tape recorder.
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