AUSTRALIA
ABC – Four Corners
[with video]
By Geoff Thompson and Mary Ann Jolley
Updated June 28, 2012
The Catholic Church says its response to cases of child sex abuse should be compassionate, that abusers should be brought to justice and that concealing the truth is unjust to victims.
But does it follow those principles?
Coming up, Four Corners reporter Geoff Thompson investigates a shocking case of abuse involving many children, committed over several years. The abuse in itself is horrifying, the impact on the victims devastating, but perhaps the most alarming revelation is the fact that the Church turned a blind eye to the priest’s crimes. Four Corners asks why, despite clear evidence of abuse, the Church allowed him to move from parish to parish, apparently without alerting the police. The program reveals that even now the Church will not admit the full extent of what it knew about the priest’s activities.
The program also tells the story of the young men and their families, whose lives were devastated by the abuse. And details how the crimes committed led to the early death of several victims.
“It would have been no different if he had taken a gun and shot him, it just took longer.” Relative of an abused child
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