Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry Hears from Victim Support Groups

ABC News
November 26, 2012

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-26/child-abuse-inquiry-hears-from-victims-support-groups/4393324?§ion=news

[with video]

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has been urged to question Catholic Church employees about the whereabouts of documents that might show sexual abuse being covered up.

The American-based founder of an international victims support group appeared before the inquiry on Monday.

Barbara Blaine of the 'Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests', told the inquiry the church uses many of the same tactics to conceal abuse in Australia as it does worldwide.

She says the inquiry will need to do more than request documents from the church to prove senior officials chose to ignore to paedophilia.

"Bring in the employees and former employees and ask them to swear under oath what documents exist," she told the inquiry.

"When that happens in other jurisdictions we find many more documents exist and more truth is exposed."

She also called for better support services for victims who come forward.

Another witness from the same support group, Nicky Davis, earlier described the lack of counselling for victims in Victoria as obscene.

She says the vast majority of victims are not getting any help.

Ms Davis says some of the people who have been abused are known to institutions, but they do not reach out.

"That is obscene. These people at the very least should be getting access to free of charge counselling as an absolute minimum." she said.

"It's just unthinkable that we could just be turning our backs on these people and say, 'let them suffer', because that's what we're doing."

A victim of sexual abuse by the clergy told the inquiry, a Catholic Church complaints body discouraged him from reporting the incident to police.

Mark Fabbro says a Jesuit Father violently attacked him on school grounds.

Mr Fabbro, who now works for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says he was put off reporting the abuse in 1996.

"I was dissuaded by an agent of the church, from reporting these crimes to the police," he said.

"I was also dissuaded from attempting to seek justice from the Jesuits."

Peter O'Callaghan, who holds the position of Independent commissioner for the church's Melbourne Response complaints body, says he encourages victims to report criminal conduct to police.