PIC to probe NSW Police, church dealings

By Eoin Blackwell
Sydney Morning Herald
October 13, 2014

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pic-to-probe-nsw-police-church-dealings-20141013-3hv5u.html

The Catholic Church has been accused of going against the wishes of sex abuse victims by not providing key information to investigators, an inquiry has heard.

The Police Integrity Commission has also heard the practice of "blind reporting" - a process by which allegations of child sexual abuse were reported to police without identifying the victim - was open to misconduct and may have been in breach of the NSW Crimes Act.

In her opening address on Monday, counsel assisting Kristina Stern SC said the vast majority of complainants were not advised by the church's Professional Standards Resource Group (PSRG) to take their complaint to the police.

Created by Catholic bishops, the PSRG, which included members of the police force, was set up to advise the church's Professional Standards Office (PSO) on child sexual abuse cases involving clergy and others.

The former head of the PSO, John Davoren, told the inquiry the only reason complaints weren't passed to police was if the victim said that's what they wanted.

But Mr Davoren was shown a PSO document containing a complaint of sex abuse against a priest.

The document said the woman did not want police notified, when in fact she did.

Mr Davoren agreed it was inaccurate to say she didn't want to talk to police.

He said he had no record of her saying she had changed her mind about police involvement.

The commission also heard other instances where the express wishes of complainants of sex abuse that their reports be used to corroborate allegations were omitted from blind reports.

The commission heard of one instance where someone made a complaint to the PSO of sex abuse involving an 11-year-old girl.

A statement of complaint form in 1999 clearly indicated the complainant intended to notify the police.

But information that the complainant wanted her report to be used in corroboration was not included in the blind reporting form provided to police.

Mr Davoren was asked if he was ever advised by police the blind reporting system was incongruent with the NSW Crimes Act.

"I was not given that advice," he said.

The inquiry will also look at whether there was a memorandum of understanding between police and the church concerning the handling of abuse claims.

The commission heard that at a PSRG meeting on 9 January 1997, Father Brian Lucas, now head of the Catholic Bishops Conference, told committee members "agreements were being reached" between police and the church.

The inquiry will examine the conduct of the former chair of the professional standards resource group, Inspector Elizabeth Cullen.

The commission will look at her role in ensuring that all information held by the Catholic Church in relation to child sexual abuse or sexual offences was appropriately reported to police and investigated.

The hearings are expected to continue until Friday.