AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au
By 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 said.
"It's petty cash to them. They say they've offered a six-figure sum, but it wouldn't be six figures if it was one cent less."