October 04, 2005

Church sex abuse talks fail

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Greg Roberts
October 05, 2005
ANGLICAN Church negotiations with the sex abuse victim who brought about the downfall of former governor-general Peter Hollingworth have collapsed.

Beth Heinrich has attacked the Anglican Church, claiming it has not acted in good faith in the negotiations for a substantial compensation package.

Mrs Heinrich revealed that the church had offered $100,000 in compensation for the abuse she suffered as a teenage girl at the hands of an Anglican priest, Donald Shearman, at a church boarding school in the NSW town of Forbes in the mid-1950s.

"It's outrageous, really, when you consider everything I've been through and am still going through as a result of the church's failure in its duty of care with me," Mrs Heinrich told The Australian.

Posted by kshaw at October 4, 2005 02:51 PM