AUSTRALIA
The Australian
MARK SCHLIEBS THE AUSTRALIAN APRIL 07, 2014
THE Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide warned that a government inquiry into the abuse of intellectually disabled children at an archdiocese school could jeopardise police attempts to convict a pedophile, a letter tendered to a royal commission has revealed.
Three months before the sexual abuse of several children between 1986 and 1991 at the St Ann’s Special School in Adelaide was revealed publicly, Archbishop Philip Wilson wrote to South Australia’s then education minister in 2001 about private calls for an inquiry.
Archbishop Wilson said that the church was prepared to “co-operate fully” if an inquiry was held but added that other parties would be concerned, according to the letter dated December 17, 2001.
“Our advice from the Police Department (sic), however, is to avoid taking any action that might jeopardise or inadvertently undermine their attempts to investigate (pedophile Brian) Perkins and have this matter resolved in the judicial system,” Archbishop Wilson said in the letter.
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