Police Whistleblower Peter Fox Continues Evidence at Child Sex Abuse Inquiry in Newcastle
By Neil Keene
POLICE whistleblower Peter Fox developed such a mistrust of senior colleagues that when called to a meeting to discuss investigations into child sex offences in the Catholic church he deliberately left critical documents sitting on his desk. Continuing his evidence today at the special commission of inquiry into the alleged cover-up of paedophilia within the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, Det-Chief-Insp Fox was asked whether he deliberately lied to his colleagues who had convened that meeting in late 2010. "Absolutely, yes," he replied. Det-Chief-Insp Fox said he was told to bring all documents relating to his investigation to a meeting to discuss furthering his investigations. But he held fears the meeting with senior Newcastle police would actually result in him being forced off the case. "Sadly, the latter was true," he said. The inquiry’s first two weeks of hearings are looking at why Det-Insp Fox was called off the case and whether his investigations were thereafter put in the too-hard basket. Further hearings next month will look at whether the church covered up incidents of child sex abuse, and if so, how. Det-Chief-Insp Fox told Commissioner Margaret Cunneen SC that by June, 2010, he had such concerns about trust among peers and superiors within the NSW Police Force that he was not registering details of his informants on the police computer system. He also admitted to accessing police data files to track down details of other alleged victims without logging his work through official channels.
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