New Offence Sought for Leaders Who Put Young at Risk of Abuse
By Barney Zwartz
[with video] The Salvation Army says it is ashamed and deeply sorry for the brutal abuse suffered by many children in its care, following the release of an eagerly awaited report on clergy child sex abuse. The report, launched in the Victorian Parliament on Wednesday, also recommends sweeping changes to laws behind which the Catholic Church has sheltered, and accuses its leaders of trivialising the problem as a "short-term embarrassment". Church leaders view ... abuse of children as a "short-term embarrassment".Inquiry chairwoman Georgie Crozier spoke of "a betrayal beyond comprehension" and children suffering "unimaginable harm". She said the inquiry had referred 135 previously unreported claims of child sex abuse to the police. The report, Betrayal of Trust, wants to establish a new crime when people in authority knowingly put a child a risk. It wants to make it a crime to leave a child at risk or not report abuse, including for clergy, but does not recommend ending the exemption for the confessional. Grooming a child or parents should be a crime, child abuse should be excluded from the statute of limitations, and the present church systems of dealing with victims in-house should be replaced by an independent authority funded by the churches, the report says. The report was the result of a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into sexual abuse that began last year. A separate national Royal Commission into abuse will prepare an interim report by the middle of next year. A member of the Victorian committee, Andrea Coote, said the Catholic Church had minimised and trivialised the problem, kept the community in ignorance, and ensured that perpetrators were not held accountable, which meant children continued to be abused. She said with one exception "we found that today's church leaders view the current question of abuse of children as a 'short-term embarrassment' which should be handled as quickly as possible to cause the least damage to the church's standing. They do not see the problems as raising questions about the church's own culture." The Salvation Army, which operated a large number of children's homes around the country between 1893 and 1995, has apologised to victims and their families for abuse that happened under its watch. It says the offences should never have happened and was a breach of the trust placed in them. A substantial part of evidence received by the Victorian abuse inquiry related to complaints of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in Salvation Army institutions from the 1930s to the 1980s. Besides recommending new criminal laws, the report suggests way to make it easier for victims to seek justice. These include changes to make sure churches are held accountable and vicariously liable, and that any organisation receiving government funding or tax exemptions is incorporated and insured. This would eliminate the defence by which the church successfully argued it was not an entity that could be sued. Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said the government would act quickly to begin drafting legislation that reflected the committee's recommendations.
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