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Royal Commission finds Pell should have done more
The child abuse royal commission has rejected claims by Cardinal George Pell regarding his knowledge of abuse by notorious paedophile priests.
Naomi Neilson
The unredacted versions of three reports from the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have been released today. The reports found Cardinal Pell should have advised senior Catholic authorities to remove Gerald Ridsdale and that he should have advocated for the removal of Father Peter Searson.
The report noted Cardinal Pell knew the notorious Gerald Ridsdale had taken young boys on “overnight camps”, but that he did not consider reporting the incidents or to take action to avoid situations happening in future as it “might provoke gossip”.
“We are satisfied [that] in 1973 Father Pell turned his mind to the prudence of Ridsdale taking boys on overnight camps. The most likely reason for this, as Cardinal Pell acknowledged, was the possibility that if priests were one on one with a child then they could sexually abuse a child or at least provoke gossip about such a prospect,” the report read.
Cardinal Pell told the inquiry that he was handed a list of grievances about assaults from Father Searson but believed the Education Officer was handling those allegations and it was “not his place” to investigate the claims.
However, the commission found he should have acted.
"It was incumbent on Bishop Pell, as an Auxiliary Bishop with responsibilities for the welfare of the children in the Catholic community of his region, to take such action as he could to advocate that Father Searson be removed or suspended or, at least, that a thorough investigation be undertaken of the allegations," the commission said.
On why the reports were unredacted, Attorney General Christian Porter said: “Based on advice that criminal proceedings have concluded and therefore the full version of reports may be published, I have tabled the reports and ensured that they are fully available to the Australian public.”
More to come.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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