AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Andy Park
The former director of the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) says there is “clear evidence” the Catholic Church covered up the crimes of a paedophile priest.
John Joseph Farrell, formerly Father “F” under a decades-old suppression order, was sentenced to a minimum 18 years’ jail after being found guilty of 62 counts of child sex abuse in Armidale in the 1980s.
Pressure is mounting on the DPP to investigate the Catholic Church over its role in the cover-up of Farrell’s crimes, with the possibility of further criminal prosecution of senior Catholic Church leaders.
Since 1990, it has been against the law to conceal serious offences under 316 of the Crimes Act.
“I think this is very clear evidence of continuing cover-up,” former DPP director Nicholas Cowdery said.
“I don’t see how you can get away from that.”
Farrell has offered to give evidence against senior Catholic leaders who have repeatedly denied covering up his child sex crimes.
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