Police Paedophilia Meeting 'Sinister': Inquiry
By Jason Gordon
DETECTIVE Chief Inspector Peter Fox described a meeting at which an investigation into child paedophilia was taken off him as ‘‘sinister’’. Mr Fox again spent the morning giving evidence to the Special Commission of Inquiry into alleged cover-ups of child sex abuse within the Newcastle area, detailing a December 2010 meeting where he was told to cease his eight-year investigations. Mr Fox told the inquiry that he was instructed by Superintendent Max Mitchell to cease contact with all witnesses and alleged victims, as well as Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy. ‘‘I said, ‘these people have been through hell, they have trusted me and I promised them I would see this through,’’ he said. ‘‘I sat with one woman for 28 hours taking a statement. I told Superintendent Mitchell that I would need to inform those people that I was no longer part of the investigation and he [allowed me to do that].’’ Later, Mr Fox conceded that he could not recall whether or not Superintendent Mitchell had ordered him to stop talking to other police officers or members of Strikeforce Lantle, which was set up to investigate claims of cover-ups with the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. Mr Fox said he came away from the meeting feeling that ‘‘what was going on was quite sinister, in my belief’’. Earlier today, Mr Fox admitted to providing incorrect information to the Special Commission of Inquiry hearing on MOnday. During proceedings this morning, Mr Fox was pushed to elaborate on the December meeting, at which he was asked to bring along all documents relating to allegations of child abuse by the diocese. Yesterday he told the inquiry that he had inadvertently left a folder containing statements from alleged abuse victims on his desk, but Tuesday he conceded that he had deliberately left them behind. ‘‘You deliberately kept statements you had gathered to yourself?’’ council assisting Julia Lonergan SC asked Fox. ‘‘Why did you lie yesterday and say you forgot to take them?’’ ‘‘I may have misheard yesterday,’’ Fox replied, saying he was confused about which documents he was being questioned about yesterday. ‘‘I intentionally left [the documents] behind because I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to surrender them [to the meeting].’’ ‘‘So you lied to police at that meeting?’’ Ms Lonergan asked. ‘‘Yes, absolutely,’’ Fox replied, saying he was still ‘‘suspicious’’ of the motives of police at the meeting. Mr Fox said he was aware that a number of other police knew he had the statements, and so did Joanne McCarthy. Ms Lonergan asked why, in an email to Ms McCarthy, Fox said he had ‘‘been asked to hand over all documents that I had’’. Mr Fox argued again that the statements had been confused with a ministerial file which he thought he was being questioned about. The inquiry resumes this afternoon. Fox tells of suspicions of 'Catholic Mafia' at child sex abuse inquiry DETECTIVE Chief Inspector Peter Fox was ‘‘uneasy’’. His office had been raided while he was on leave, he and other police had been pulled off investigations into the alleged cover-up of child sex abuse, and a colleague had told him about the ‘‘Catholic Mafia’’ that existed within Newcastle’s police ranks. ‘‘I just didn’t trust other police,’’ he said. Mr Fox spent most of yesterday in the witness box as the first day of inquiries into police handling of child sexual abuse allegations within the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese got under way. The inquiry, headed by Commissioner Margaret Cunneen, heard a series of stunning allegations from Mr Fox including suggestions that a ‘‘Catholic Mafia’’ was behind a grand scheme of collusion, and Mr Fox chose not to charge former Catholic Bishop Michael Malone with hindering police investigations into paedophile priests. The inquiry was also told senior police were stopped from talking to Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy despite her being ‘‘the genesis’’ of a strikeforce charged with investigating the cover-up of child sex abuse within the diocese. In her opening address, Commissioner Cunneen acknowledged the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese ‘‘has had a very troubled history regarding issues of child protection and the sexual abuse of children’’. She also referred to the crimes of convicted paedophile priests Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher who committed a ‘‘reprehensible betrayal of faith’’ against ‘‘vulnerable and innocent children’’. Mr Fox took the stand shortly after 11am. He described taking a statement from a young victim of Fletcher as ‘‘the worst I’ve ever encountered’’. ‘‘It was the most horrid in nature, the most dreadful of crimes,’’ he said, adding that the victim had attempted suicide on several occasions. Mr Fox said he first became suspicious about possible collusion between police and senior members of the Catholic Church in June 2002. Then, Mr Fox said he had interviewed senior members of the diocese who later warned James Fletcher that he was being investigated for child sex crimes. ‘‘The scope for charging [then-Catholic Bishop Michael] Malone was there – I informally discussed charging Malone with the Director of Public Prosecutions,’’ Mr Fox said. ‘‘But it was suggested that Michael Malone would be better used as a witness than as an accused.’’ Asked by Counsel Assisting, Julia Lonergan SC, if there was a formal brief taken in regards to Bishop Malone’s conduct, Mr Fox replied ‘‘no’’. ‘‘Were any active steps taken to investigate the concealment of offences up to 2010,’’ Ms Lonergan asked. ‘‘No,’’ Mr Fox replied again. Mr Fox said his interest in the alleged concealment of crimes grew when he was contacted by journalist Joanne McCarthy ‘‘who had piles of information’’ about the alleged covering-up of child abuse by senior Catholic clergy including Bishop Malone and Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson. Mr Fox told the inquiry that two senior police officers told him an investigation would not proceed. ‘‘Some of the documents were alarming,’’ Mr Fox said, ‘‘and, for me, things had gone way beyond just a suspicion.’’ Asked by Ms Lonergan if the term ‘‘Catholic Mafia’’, first coined by former colleague Troy Grant, was made in reference to the police or the clergy, Mr Fox replied ‘‘I think it may have incorporated both ... but I took it to mean police because of the way it was said at the time.’’ Mr Fox was asked why he wasn’t involving other police in his investigation. ‘‘I didn’t trust other police at that stage,’’ he said. ‘‘I had a very uneasy feeling about what was going on and developed a mistrust.’’ When Mr Fox returned to work from annual leave on October 18 2010, he was approached by a public servant, Miriam Watt, who said that Superintendent Charlie Haggart and acting Superintendent Wayne Humphrey had raided his office in his absence. When he approached Superintendent Haggart, Mr Fox said he was told to ‘‘hand over all the documentation I had gathered regarding church abuse’’. ‘‘He made it clear that the file was being taken off me,’’ he said. By December 1, Mr Fox was summoned to a meeting with Superintendent Haggart and other senior police to discuss the alleged cover-ups by Catholic clergy. At the meeting, he was informed that Strikeforce Lantle would be taking over the investigation. Mr Fox said he was happy with the arrangement, but said he questioned why he was ordered by Superintendent Max Mitchell to cease talking to media. ‘‘When I suggested that [Herald journalist] Joanne McCarthy be involved, Superintendent Mitchell became quite hostile,’’ he said. ‘‘I protested, Joanne McCarthy knows more about this matter than everyone in this room put together.’’ Mr Fox is expected to continue giving evidence when the inquiry resumes this morning. The Newcastle hearings will continue for two weeks, and for a further three weeks from June 24.
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