AUSTRALIA
7 News
By court reporter Jamelle Wells, ABC
Updated May 6, 2013
Some of the most senior police officers in New South Wales will give evidence at a public inquiry starting today into child sex abuse and the Catholic Church.
New South Wales Deputy Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen is overseeing the inquiry, which is looking at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher in the Newcastle-Hunter area of New South Wales.
The men have since died, but, giving an overview of the inquiry in February, Margaret Cunneen said they “victimised” children and it appears that “collective responsibility” to take action against them was ignored.
New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell set up the inquiry after Hunter police Chief Inspector Peter Fox appeared on the ABC’s Lateline program.
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