Sex Abuse Victims Did Not Know That Bondi Had Asked BBC for Money, by Miriam Dalli, Malta Today, September 28, 2011

Sex Abuse Victims Did Not Know That Bondi Had Asked BBC for Money

By Miriam Dalli
Malta Today
September 28, 2011

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/2011/0928/sex-abuse-victims-did-not-know-that-bondi-had-asked-bbc-for-money

Bondi did not tell Grech that he had asked the BBC for money

Where's Everybody? anchor Lou Bondi, acting as 'spokesman' for the clerical abuse victims, had asked a BBC journalist for money last year in return for an interview with Lawrence Grech during the Pope's visit. The front page story is carried on the MaltaToday printed edition.

Bondi claimed at the time that the request had originated from Grech himself. Grech however denies ever asking the BBC for money.

"Yes, I am aware that the BBC had wanted to interview me, but I never asked them for any money. But if Bondi said or did something behind our backs, I don't know about it…"

The following quote from Bondi, given to this newspaper on 18 April last year, suggests otherwise: "Ah yes, there was this radio show in Manchester who asked for an interview. But basically he (Grech) had a lot of choices of interview from which to choose. So he asked for money to put them off."

The BBC however made it clear that Bondi, as their spokesman, had made the "rather odd" request, which the Corporation had refused 'as a matter of principle'.

"We asked for an interview with victim Lawrence Grech for one of our radio programmes, but Mr Bondi asked us to pay up for the interview," the Corporation's spokesman had told MaltaToday last year, adding that: "the BBC has no problem with paying people it interviews, but when it comes to interviewing a victim in cases like these, as a matter of principle it is considered to be a rather odd request."

Laurence Grech insists he knew nothing about this request at the time: "If Bondi said or did something behind our backs, I don't know about it…"

Lawrence Grech is one of the victims of clerical abuse currently seeking financial compensation by the Church, stands by his claims that TV presenter Lou Bondi had prevented himself and the above victims from talking to other media or taking part in programmes not produced by his own company (Where's Everybody?) – arguing that Bondi has now changed his tune so as "not to get his hands dirty where Church money is involved."

"Have you ever seen me on programmes which were not produced by Where's Everybody?" Grech said yesterday, after Bondi published a blogpost denying earlier claims of having placed conditions for acting as their spokesperson over the past eight years. "I had many offers (from other media), but I couldn't go…"