AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Australian Associated Press
Wednesday 21 September 2016
A senior figure in the Catholic Church has been interviewed by police over whether he and others failed to report paedophile ex-priest John Farrell to authorities, the child sex abuse royal commission has heard.
Former vicar general of Sydney John Usher told the commission he gave a statement to officers from Strike Force Glenroe in May.
“They told me that the department of police prosecutions, the DPP, had asked them to investigate this Farrell matter,” Usher, 75, told the commission on Wednesday.
Usher’s police statement said he did not recall Farrell making any direct admission to committing sexual offences on children during a 1992 meeting with himself and two other priests.
“If he had done so, I would have reported the matters to the appropriate authorities,” the statement said.
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