AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
AAP NOVEMBER 13, 2013
THE concealment of sexual abuse should be a crime, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse says.
The inquiry committee’s report recommends that people in positions of authority should be criminally responsible for placing children at risk of harm by other individuals.
The report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, comes after months of committee hearings, during which victims and Victoria Police alleged the Catholic Church had concealed child sexual abuse by clergy members.
The church’s procedures for sexual abuse complaints – the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing – do not allow for public acknowledgment of wrongdoing, regardless of the circumstances, the report says.
“Only in recent months have senior members of the Catholic Church accepted responsibility for the church’s failure to conduct its operations with due regard to the safety of children,” the report said.
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