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	Report Finds Cloyne Abuse Complaints Were Mishandled By John Burke Sunday Business Post April 11, 2011 http://www.sbpost.ie/news/ireland/report-finds-cloyne-abuse-complaints-were-mishandled-55625.html The inquiry into the handling of allegations of clerical child sex abuse in the Cork diocese of Cloyne has found that a litany of complaints was mishandled at senior levels. It is also expected to report that state agencies failed to work together effectively to handle a number of abuse complaints. Informed sources who have seen extracts of the report - which is expected to be published by the end of next week - said that, in some cases, the gravity and duration of the sexual abuse experienced by victims was "considerably worse" than that uncovered by the examination of abuse claims in Dublin. Witnesses told the Cloyne commission of instances where one girl's abuse at the hands of a diocesan priest began at the age of seven and lasted until puberty. Entire families have said that their lives were destroyed by the abuse, and that it had a profoundly negative effect on their position in rural communities in east Cork. Unlike the Dublin report, which studied abuse claims from 1975 to 2004, the Cloyne commission's remit ran from 1996 up to 2009,which means that many of the cases dealt with in the report are contemporary. Among the issues examined by the commission of inquiry - headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy - was the level of contact between the gardaí and the health services immediately after claims of abuse had been made by several alleged victims. Previously published documentation, including an audit of the management of abuse complaints in the diocese, found that gardaí had failed to inform childcare authorities about at least one complaint of sexual abuse for more than two years after they received the allegation. The report was cleared for publication by the High Court last week. Officials from the Attorney General's office and from the Department of Justice will spend the weekend redacting aspects of the report which relate to ongoing criminal investigations. It is also likely to be sent to Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan. Sources said it was possible that any finding of mishandling of an abuse complaint by gardaí could be forwarded to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission, as long as the incident did not predate the establishment of the commission.
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