Police obfuscation undermines child sex abuse inquiry: Frank Brennan

A respected Catholic has lashed out at Victoria Police’s handling of the George Pell sex abuse allegations.

‘Make no mistake, if (George) Pell is a child abuser, I want him out of the Vatican and out of the way of children,’ says Father Frank Brennan.

One of Australia’s most respected Catholics has lashed out at Victoria Police’s handling of the George Pell sex abuse alle­gations, reigniting a long-running feud about the way the force has treated the church.

Father Frank Brennan has warned that “police obfuscation’’ and “media titillation’’ has the potential to undermine the child sex abuse royal commission and to inflict further damage on victims.

Father Brennan has also ­lamented that a key “witness’’ to allegedly sexual behaviour by Cardinal Pell towards children took nearly 30 years to report the matter to police,

In an article published in today’s The Weekend Australian, Father Brennan has warned that if Cardinal Pell were found to be an abuser, he should be ousted from the Vatican.

“Make no mistake, if Pell is a child abuser, I want him out of the Vatican and out of the way of children,’’ he says. “But if he’s not, I want the Victoria Police to come clean and get back to routine policing, rather than media titillation, for the wellbeing of all of us.’’

The ABC’s 7.30 program this week broadcast allegations by two Ballarat men that in the late 1970s, Cardinal Pell had molested them at a swimming pool in western Victoria.

Cardinal Pell denied the allegations and accused police and the national broadcaster of being involved in a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

It was confirmed that Cardinal Pell had spent a significant amount of time at the pool in question.

Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and the ABC have denied emphatically that the force leaked information about the investigation, details of which first emerged several months ago.

Victoria Police has previously been revealed as exaggerating the number of suicides caused by clergy abuse and was attacked by parliament for being disingenuous about the church’s Melbourne Response, which was a compensation scheme set up by Cardinal Pell to deal with abuse.

Between 1950 and the late 1990s, the church was responsible for thousands of abuse cases and at the same time, police have been condemned for failing to do enough, or of being complicit in offending.

Despite multiple allegations against Cardinal Pell, The Weekend Australian has not seen evidence likely to lead to him being prosecuted, although Mr Ashton made it clear this week that Cardinal Pell could yet face charges.

Mr Ashton has been at loggerheads with the church for several years.

Police have also been investigating allegations of abuse by Cardinal Pell at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 90s, with two alleged victims who had sung in the church choir.

Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions is examining police files containing allegations from up to eight people. Father Brennan urged Victoria Police to interview Cardinal Pell in Rome.