AUSTRALIA
The Australian
September 13, 2016
.
DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10
A senior Catholic cleric was warned that a priest was sexually abusing Aboriginal boys, but he dismissed the allegations as “nothing to be concerned about” after driving down the main street of the town involved, a royal commission has heard.
The cleric, the late Frank Ryan, also received repeated warnings about another pedophile priest, John Farrell, but asked one of his victim’s parents not to go to police, saying that doing so might harm the child.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard yesterday that both priests were subsequently convicted of sexually abusing children.
The commission, which is investigating the church’s response to Farrell’s crimes, has heard several senior officials, including at least one bishop, were aware of allegations against him decades before he was jailed.
One of Farrell’s victims yesterday told the commission he went to Ryan in 1981 after Farrell assaulted him inside a church in Moree, northern NSW, and was told “It’s OK, I’ll sort it out”.
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