AUSTRALIA
ABC News
Exclusive by Steve Cannane and Sashka Koloff
The Catholic Church tried to strike an agreement with New South Wales Police that would have helped shutdown investigations into paedophile priests and placed police in breach of the Crimes Act.
Police records, accessed under freedom of information laws by Greens MP David Shoebridge, show two attempts were made to finalise memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between police and the church over how to deal with complaints of sexual and physical abuse by Catholic Church personnel.
The first agreement, which was unsigned, includes a clause that reads: “Church authorities shall make available the report of an assessment and any other matter relevant to the accused’s account of events only if required to do so by court order.”
Barrister Geoffrey Watson SC says the agreement would have placed police in breach of the Crimes Act.
“If you become aware of a serious criminal offence, you’ve got to tell the police,” he told the ABC’s Lateline program.
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