AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net
The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has been much-anticipated. After almost a year, it finally began public hearings at the beginning of last week. To the surprise of many, it did not begin with matters relating to religious organisations, instead focusing on an old case where Steven Larkins was jailed for forging his “Working with children “ documents, and being in possession of child pornography. Associated charges of abuse of boys in his Scouts group attracted a suspended sentence.
Larkins was arrested when he was head of the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services organization, which receives funding from the New South Wales State government. His association with the Scouts was as a volunteer, but he was employed during that time, sequentially, by the New South Wales education department, the Lutheran Church and the St. John of God Catholic Church religious order. This order has had serious cases of abuse in Australia.
The enquiry heard evidence from Scouts, the Hunter organisation, the New South Wales government and local police. It did not hear evidence from his other employers.
At the beginning of the week, the hearings attracted widespread media attention, even though it only went back over matters revealed during Larkins’ court case. By the middle of the week, reporting fell off dramatically, so that, basically, only the public broadcaster, the ABC, carried the story at all. By the end of the week, even the ABC dropped coverage.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.