AUSTRALIA
The Age
April 30, 2013
Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age
Child rape victim Emma Foster received $450,000 compensation from the Catholic Church when the church limit was $50,000 because she took the church to court, the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sex abuse heard on Tuesday.
Peter O’Callaghan QC, the independent commissioner for the church’s abuse system, admitted he wrote to the church’s lawyer Richard Leder about “flushing out the Fosters’ real intentions” because he suspected they would use his Melbourne Response finding in court.
He also admitted going to the Fosters’ home and trying to persuade Emma to accept the church offer, saying it was because she was about to turn 18 and the legal arrangements would change.
Emma and Katie Foster were serially abused at primary school by paedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell. Emma later committed suicide, while Katie is in a wheelchair after being hit by a car.
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