Call for Royal Commission to launch in-depth probe into suicides linked to clergy abuse

By Giselle Wakatama
ABC News
January 13, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-13/call-for-royal-commission-to-launch-in-depth-probe-into-suicide/6013606

Bob O'Toole has helped form a group that is calling for an in-depth probe by the Royal Commission into the suicide deaths of dozens of Hunter Valley clergy abuse victims.

Dozens of suicides, allegedly linked to abuse by several Hunter Valley priests, has prompted the formation of a group that is calling for an in-depth probe by the Royal Commission.

Scores of Hunter Valley men and women suffered abuse at the hands of the region's priests, and more than a dozen clergy and lay people have been charged with around 500 offences.

It has resulted in several convictions and hefty jail sentences.

The abuse prompted a Special Commission of Inquiry into two dead paedophile Catholic priests from the Hunter Valley, with it recommending one senior church official be prosecuted.

The toll it has taken on families is not lost on child abuse advocates, who have repeatedly raised concerns about a mass number of suicides of people who allegedly suffered abuse.

The ABC has been told that as many as 30 suicide deaths can be linked to the abuse by priests.

In recent months there has been a push for an in-depth probe into the suicides, and an independent group has now been formed to collect data on the issue which it will forward to the Royal Commission.

The ABC has been told a lists of victims is being compiled and the issue has been raised with Commissioner Peter McClellan, via his staff, and he is due to visit the Hunter in the coming months.

The group is hoping a case study will be held in the region to shed further light on the issue.

Abuse survivor and group spokesman Bob O'Toole said he has been told the Commissioner has a particular interest in the research document.

"It's all very well for people to not want to see the carnage that this type of thing has caused," he said.

"There are enormous casualties here - families living after suicide, and of course there's the living victims of sexual abuse.

"There's clergy still who were well aware of some of the problems that were existing, and yet did nothing, and subsequently people took their lives."

Mr O'Toole hopes the research document will spark an investigation into the link between clergy abuse and suicide.

"There were several people who requested that this be looked at, but it came predominantly from families who were affected by suicide," he said.

"What we'd like to happen is to present this document to the Royal Commission with a view to the Commissioners deciding that it needs further investigation.

"The list is a list of deceased students and ex-students."