AUSTRALIA
The West Australian
AAP
Plans to move a known paedophile Catholic priest from the NSW Hunter Valley region to work in Western Australia in 1976 were “a good cover up”, a special commission of inquiry has been told.
The special commission is examining how police and church officials handled child sexual abuse allegations involving Dennis McAlinden and another Hunter Valley Catholic priest, James Fletcher.
Counsel assisting the commission, Julia Lonergan, says the idea of a cover up about McAlinden was put forward in a letter from senior Hunter Valley Catholic priest, Monsignor Patrick Cotter, to the then Bishop Leo Clarke.
Church officials “had extensive knowledge (of the serious risk McAlinden posed to children) dating back to the 1950s”, Ms Lonergan said.
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