AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Mercury
By JODIE DUFFY
Oct. 2, 2013
A former Wollongong Catholic primary school principal will give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Jim Walsh said he would tell the commission about his friend, whistleblower Father Maurie Crocker, who exposed paedophile behaviour within the Catholic Church in 1993.
Mr Walsh said he helped and supported Fr Crocker as he took the allegations of the victims to the relevant hierarchy – but when the police, priests and Bishop William Murray failed to act on the complaints, Fr Crocker had no choice but to take the matter to the Illawarra Mercury.
He said Fr Crocker was then ostracised by some of the clergy for exposing and speaking out.
“He was doing God’s work,” Mr Walsh said. “But he wasn’t treated kindly at the time by the Catholic Church. I want to go to the commission and stand up for Maurie and for what he did.”
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.