AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today
[with audio]
Timothy McDonald reported this story on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
ASHLEY HALL: A legal academic who was responsible for reviewing the Catholic Church’s program for dealing with sexual abuse says there should be a royal commission into cover ups within the organisation.
A police strike force in Newcastle is preparing to turn over a brief of evidence to prosecutors about an alleged cover-up of sexual abuse by the Church there.
Documents show the Church was aware of allegations against the paedophile priest Denis McAlinden as far back as the 1990s, but didn’t report them to police until 2003.
Timothy McDonald reports.
TIMOTHY MCDONALD: The Catholic Church’s protocol for dealing with sexual abuse, called Towards Healing, was introduced in 1996.
It’s been reviewed twice since then, by Patrick Parkinson, who is currently a law professor at Sydney University. He says there has been progress, but some things have been slow to change.
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