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	Paedophile Sex Ring Must Be Exposed: Whistleblower Warns Tasmanians The Advocate [Australia] February 4, 2007 http://blayney.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=national%20news&subclass=general&story_id=554023&category=general A whistleblower who helped expose child sex abuse cover-ups in the Anglican Church, triggering a major State inquiry, has aired concerns about unresolved "connections" within a paedophile "network" linked to the North- West Coast. Former South Australian Anglican clergyman, Reverend Don Owers AM, says he was convinced a network, which primarily involved a string of convicted paedophiles, had operated on the Coast and between states. "I don't know the connection was ever fully investigated," Dr Owers AM told The Advocate. "I think it's more a network where this person knew that person. "There were a number of people that were principal players that have been jailed or are dead. "But in a forensic sense I don't know whether it's been fully investigated. "I would be interested if any new information came forward." Dr Owers paired up with colleague Andrew King in 2002 to expose the church's sex abuse cover-ups in South Australia, linking the activities to other states, including Tasmania. Dr Owers was a rector at an Adelaide parish, which received notoriety over former parishioner Robert Brandenburg, a former Church of England Boys Society (CEBS) chief commissioner, who committed suicide in 1999 over charges of child sexual assault. It is feared Brandenburg was part of a wider group of senior Anglicans in SA and Tasmania who had preyed on CEBS members since the 1960s. Dr Owers said other network connections involved convicted paedophiles Garth Stephen Hawkins, John Litton Elliot and Louis Victor Daniels. Beyond Abuse spokesman Steve Fisher echoed the concerns aired by Dr Owers about a network, saying it was more of a "paedophile ring" on the coast, with many of the links never properly investigated. Mr Fisher said he hoped residents, if they were in fact victims from decades ago, were not too afraid to come forward with their complaints. Dr Owers was awarded an AM for his brave role in unravelling the Anglican Church's handling of child sex abuse, which led to various inquiries in South Australia, hundreds of victims coming forward, and a raft of key reforms implemented within the church.
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