Priest Denies Withholding Abuse Claims from Police at Nsw Hunter Valley Abuse Inquiry

By Dan Cox
7 News
July 29, 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/latest/a/-/article/18198458/priest-denies-withholding-abuse-claims-from-police-at-nsw-hunter-valley-abuse-inquiry/

A New South Wales Hunter Valley Catholic priest has rejected claims at a public inquiry that he held back information from police because child sexual abuse allegations are "damaging and distasteful".

Father Bob Searle was the parish priest at Nelson Bay, north of Newcastle, in the late 1990s.

In giving evidence to a Newcastle inquiry today, he said he remembered a person known as AH, a victim of paedophile priest James Fletcher, coming to the presbytery one night drunk and angry and yelling out "nobody loves me".

Police whistleblower Peter Fox has said that, at the time, Father Searle told him AH was also yelling about priests "doing filthy things to little boys", but it was not included in his statement to police.

Father Searle said that was because he never heard the comments.

He rejected claims he held back information from police despite the allegations being "damaging and distasteful".

The special commission into clergy abuse is holding its eighth and final week of public hearings in Newcastle.

It is investigating claims by Detective Chief Inspector Fox that the Catholic church covered-up abuse by Fletcher and another priest Denis McAlinden.

Former Maitland-Newcastle vicar general Father William Burston was back in the witness box today after a week's reprieve because he was "harassed" by members of the public outside the inquiry.

He was accused by counsel assisting of having "selective recall" during the first part of his evidence, but father Burston's barrister today tendered a letter from his GP stating a noticeable change in his memory over the last two decades.

Counsel assisting told the commission "no formal diagnosis had been made and it was simply a letter saying he had a mild impediment that affects his memory".

Counsel assisting said father Burston "had trouble recalling names and doing crosswords but that's a far cry from what the commission's looking at".

The commission's heard father Burston blames 10 general anaesthetics over the last eight years for his poor memory.

Elizabeth Doyle has been the executive assistant to three Maitland-Newcastle bishops since 1993 and has also given evidence today.

When asked by counsel assisting the commission about the Church's "special issues" file, Ms Doyle said she refers to the confidential documents as "good and bad files".

She said some priests had "bad files directly behind their good" personnel files which were contained in one filing cabinet.

She also told the commission the former bishop Michael Malone gave her the instruction to "give police whatever they wanted".

She said when the new bishop Bill Wright took over, she asked him, "I'm assuming I still do that?" and he replied, "yeah, absolutely."

The inquiry continues tomorrow with more evidence from John Davoren, the former director of the church's Professional Standards Office.