Police Officer Failed to Report Cases of Sex Abuse by Church

By Michelle Harris
Newcastle Herald
October 17, 2014

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2632539/police-officer-never-reported-cases-of-sex-abuse-by-church/?cs=305

A POLICE officer never reported or told her superiors of the dozens of cases of child sexual abuse she learnt of through her involvement with a Catholic Church advisory group, telling the police watchdog ‘‘that wasn’t my role’’.

Inspector Elizabeth Cullen rejected any conflict of interest between her membership from 1999 to 2005 of the Church’s Professional Standards Resources Group, which was set up to consider abuse victims’ complaints, and her responsibilities as an officer.

In her evidence to the Police Integrity Commission on Friday, she said she was a member of the group to provide her expert advice to the Church on addressing child sexual abuse and was not a ‘‘police liaison or...conduit of information’’.

The NSW Police Force had not expected her to make such reports, she said.

The commission is considering whether police ‘‘condoned’’ the Church withholding information from police about clergy abuse.

It has heard evidence of a practice of ‘‘blind reporting’’, where Church officials withheld the identity of abuse victims, indicating they did not wish to speak to police.

But in some cases, they were in fact willing to do so.

Asked what efforts were made to check victims did not want to speak to police or had made an informed choice not to do so, Ms Cullen wept and said she ‘‘never envisaged’’ victims wouldn’t have made informed choices and that she considered it ‘‘disrespectful’’ for police to contact them against their wishes.

Documents that were provided to the group included Church files on internal investigations and substantiated complaints, such as a 2001 case where assessors had concluded a ‘‘priest teacher’’ was possibly a ‘‘serial and serious’’ offender.

Ms Cullen agreed there was no record in the minutes of the group’s meetings of her having advised that the case be reported to police, but added ‘‘that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen’’.

Asked by counsel assisting the commission Kristina Stern SC whether she agreed it was her role as a police officer to take steps to ensure all information about such matters was reported to police, Ms Cullen replied ‘‘No I don’t’’.

‘‘Why not?’’ Ms Stern asked.

‘‘It was my understanding that notifications were made [by the Church] to police on all relevant matters,’’ she said.

Ms Cullen said she believed Church officials would have willingly provided more information about their blind reports to police if requested.