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	No Need for Inquiry, SA Archbishop Says Sydney Morning Herald September 27, 2011 http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/no-need-for-inquiry-sa-archbishop-says-20110927-1kukl.html Adelaide's Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson doesn't believe an independent inquiry is needed into the sexual abuse of disabled children but says he understands the pain suffered by their parents. A Four Corners program about a bus driver's sexual abuse of disabled children at South Australia's St Ann's Special School between 1986 to 1991 said the church was given legal advice not to mention sex abuse charges when it sacked Brian Perkins in 1991. The parents of some of the children believe there was a cover-up and are calling for a full independent inquiry. They say the only inquiry that ever occurred failed to mention the children and contained no recommendations. The archbishop maintains he believes there was no cover-up - just confusion about how to deal with the problem. But he didn't think an inquiry was needed because since he arrived in 2001 he had done all he could to bring Perkins to justice and help the families. "It is a terrible thing to see the reality that was shown last night on Four Corners, everything about that is just really terrible, I wish it had never happened," Archbishop Wilson told ABC radio. "I don't think there is any need for an independent inquiry ... since 2001 we have dealt adequately and properly with all these matters. "I really understand the terrible pain that these people have experienced, because of what has happened, and I really have done all I could to help them in that." Perkins, who worked as a paid and later volunteer driver at the school, was charged with sex offences when police uncovered pornographic photos of children in his possession. He was granted bail and fled, with nothing happening until 2001 when a group of parents discovered the abuse and demanded answers. Perkins was later jailed for 10 years and six months after pleaded guilty to five offences involving three students, even though the abuse involved 36 intellectually disabled students. Perkins died in jail in 2009. The Catholic Church investigation into the abuse found it failed to conduct a background check on Perkins, who had previous sex offences, and that the church and its agencies had also failed to properly exercise their duties in other areas. South Australian Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent says governments are failing people with disabilities but it can be stopped. She wants education for children and video cameras placed in buses carrying intellectually-disabled children.
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