Religious Abuse Stats a Shock

By Danny Lannen
Geelong Advertiser
September 14, 2012

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/09/14/350441_news.html

MORE than 500 Geelong region people are believed to have suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse at the hands of religious and other organisations, it has been revealed.

The figure was disclosed on Thursday as the region was labelled among Victoria's worst for abuse inflicted by people in positions of trust in churches, schools and orphanages and other institutions.

"Cases from Geelong ... some of the situations are appalling," sexual crimes consultant and former chief of Victoria Police's sex crimes squad Glenn Davies said.

"Individuals and communities have been re-victimised. Communities have been re-victimised in some instances where parishes had history, and priests had disposition to this sort of behaviour and weren't removed or were moved around," Mr Davies said, "and in another sense, with people having to go before a bureaucratic system to tell their story and being let down by another system.