Inquiry Sheds Light on Darkest Corners

By Paul Maguire
Perth Now
August 2, 2013

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/inquiry-sheds-light-on-darkest-corners/story-fnhrvfuw-1226690022994

AFTER eight weeks of testimony casting light into humanity's darkest corners, the emotional impact of a NSW inquiry into church abuse came down to one moment.

It happened as a nervous 37-year-old man stepped from the witness box.

Haltingly, he'd just read a 10-minute statement describing the appalling treatment he'd endured throughout his teens at the hands of Hunter Valley Catholic priest James Fletcher.

The packed gallery of Newcastle's Supreme Court, many of them in tears, broke into spontaneous applause.

They were joined, too, by most of the inquiry's legal representatives and its commissioner, Margaret Cunneen.

The man, who can only be identified as AH, explained how the abuse contributed to his alcoholism, his broken relationships, depression, business failures and a suicide attempt.

He had unsuccessfully tried to block out his past, he said, and was, at times, still tormented by memories, shame, anger and embarrassment.

He was grateful for the on-going support from his family and friends, thankful for an opportunity to address the inquiry and hopeful that anyone who abused children or protected those who did would be brought to book.

He'd almost left the courtroom when Ms Cunneen said to him: "I just want to say that no shame attaches to you. Your courage places the blame squarely where it belongs."

The inquiry into the church and police handling of child sexual assault complaints against Fletcher and fellow Hunter Valley priest Denis McAlinden is an Australian first in calling upon them to publicly answer claims they helped conceal such crimes.

It was triggered by whistleblower detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who testified that senior Catholics were involved in covering up the assaults with help from a "Catholic mafia" among his colleagues in the force.

Fr McAlinden died of cancer in a West Australian Catholic home in 2005 and Fr Fletcher in jail in 2006 while serving time for sexually abusing children.

While Insp Fox's assertions have been vigorously denied by police and church officials, a significant amount of testimony indicates a lack of action in the past to identify or eradicate systemic factors that enabled the abuse to continue.

The inquiry heard some Hunter Valley police inquiries in the 1990s took months to get off the ground and at one stage every member of a strike force involved in investigating paedophile priests was on sick leave.

Church documents tendered in evidence showed that in McAlinden's case church leaders knew from the 1970s of abuse allegations stretching back to the 1950s.

They also revealed that Maitland-Newcastle diocese officials bought him several overseas plane tickets, allegedly didn't know where he was for about a decade and continued to pay him for at least four years after supposedly removing his right to practice as a priest.

Several senior police and church leaders testified that support for victims, plus child sexual abuse investigation and reporting requirements, had greatly improved in recent years.

Closing the public hearings on Thursday, Ms Cunneen said the commission's work was far from over even though it had operated since the end of last year and conducted about 150 private and public hearings.

Two weeks of confidential sessions will be heard in Sydney this month and Ms Cunneen is scheduled to report to NSW governor Marie Bashir by the end of September.

Confidential sessions have been necessary due to the sensitivity of some evidence and to reduce the possibility of interfering with police inquiries.

Ms Cunneen says she expects parts of her report will be made public as soon as possible and she will recommend the report be made public in its entirety once other inquiries are completed.

In the wake of AH's harrowing statement, the mother of one victim noted that the inquiry had helped empower those abused.

"I was told the commission was about human failings but I believe it was more about human strength," she said.

"It showed that people can come to terms with abuse, get the truth out in the open and then deal with healing."