AUSTRALIA
9 News
Cardinal George Pell has disputed records that show the Sydney Archdiocese has had complaints against 55 priests of child sex abuse since 2001.
At a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Sydney, the cardinal was asked about the number of abuse cases that had come to him since he took over as archbishop of the diocese.
Data provided to the commission showed complaints had been made about 55 ordained clerics since March 2001, said Gail Furness SC, counsel advising the commission.
The earliest of the alleged offences happened in 1952.
“I’m aware (of that data) but according to our statistics it’s inaccurate,” Dr Pell said.
He said he had documents that showed there had been 91 complaints but quite a number were multiple complaints about individuals.
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