Church 'failed to report abuse'

13 July 2011 Last updated at 15:47 GMT The Cloyne report was critical of Bishop John Magee A report published on Wednesday has criticised a Catholic diocese in County Cork for a failure to report all complaints of abuse to police.

The Commission of Investigation into the Diocese of Cloyne investigated how allegations against 19 priests were dealt with between 1996 and 2009.

The report said Bishop of Cloyne John Magee could not avoid "responsibility by blaming subordinates".

The Catholic Church has apologised following the report.

The leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, said it was another "dark day in the history of the response of church leaders to the cry of children abused by church personnel".

"The findings of this report confirm that grave errors of judgement were made and serious failures of leadership occurred," he said

"This is deplorable and totally unacceptable."

Bishop Magee was one of the priests identified by the commission.

The Cloyne report, which runs to 400 pages, said there were concerns about Bishop Magee's interaction with a 17-year-old boy.

"The commission regrets that it has not been possible to report the case involving concerns about Bishop Magee without identifying him," the report said.

"Concerns were expressed about his interaction with a 17-year-old boy."

It said the teenager, who had been contemplating joining the priesthood, was concerned that "the behaviour of the bishop towards him, which had not perturbed him at the time, was, on reflection, disquieting".

However, the report said it was satisfied that this case had been dealt with appropriately.

The Newry-born Bishop Magee stepped aside in 2009 after an earlier report criticised his handling of abuse allegations.

The Cloyne report, which was published by Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald, said the response of the diocese to allegations of child sexual abuse for the period of 1996 to 2008 was "inadequate and inappropriate".

It said it was a "remarkable fact" that Bishop Magee had taken "little or no active interest" in the management of clerical sexual abuse cases until 2008. This was 12 years after the rules on how to deal with such matters were implemented by the church.

It added that Bishop Magee had to "a certain extent, detached himself from the day to day management of child sexual abuse cases".

"Bishop Magee was head of the diocese and cannot avoid his responsibility by blaming subordinates whom he wholly failed to supervise," the report said.

Complaints

The commission said it was aware of some 40 people who may have been affected by clerical abuse in the diocese.

All but two complaints came from people who were adults at the time the complaint was made.

The report said between 1995 and 2005 there were 15 complaints against clergy in the diocese which should have been reported.

The most serious lapse was the failure to report the two cases in which the alleged victims were minors at the time the complaint was made.

It also said there was no communication with a neighbouring diocese when a priest who had retired because of complaints went to live there.

However, there was no case in which the diocese moved priests against whom allegations had been made.

A number of priests whom allegations were made against were "retired".

The inquiry was set up by the Irish government in January 2009 following a report published the previous month.

It was conducted by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) - a body set up by the Catholic Church to oversee child protection policies.

It found child protection practices in the diocese were "inadequate and in some respects dangerous".

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New child abuse inquiry charges

19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:09 GMT Police in Devon investigating the alleged abuse of a number of children in the Torbay area have charged a man with a further 13 sexual offences.

In February, Jake Ormerod, 19, of Babbacombe Road, Torquay, appeared in court charged with two counts under the Sexual Offences Act.

The 13 new charges included sexual assault and sexual activity with a child, police said.

He was due to appear at Exeter Crown Court on Friday 27 May, they added.

Mr Ormerod, who had been in custody since his arrest, was taken from HMP Exeter to Torquay Police Station and interviewed in relation to the new alleged offences.

Operation Mansfield is a Devon and Cornwall Police investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of up to 20 teenage girls in the Torquay area.

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NSPCC offers text help over abuse

16 May 2011 Last updated at 12:34 GMT The NSPCC hopes that the speed and immediacy of a text will make it easy for people to get in touch The NSPCC is offering a text service to encourage people to report suspected cases of child abuse.

Research by the children's charity suggests that one-in-five people said they were concerned about a child but 55% did nothing about it unless they reported concerns immediately.

The NSPCC said the free number - 88858 - would be available around the clock.

The charity also announced that psychologist Linda Papadopoulos would be its helpline ambassador.

John Cameron, head of the NSPCC helpline, said the hope was for members of the public to be the "eyes and ears" for social workers.

He said: "We must pick up on the signs of child abuse as early as possible. Social workers cannot be in the community all the time."

Anyone who sends a text to the new number will receive a message back confirming delivery immediately.

An NSPCC counsellor will then text back within three hours, offering advice and asking for more information on the situation.

Linda Papadopoulos is fronting the text campaign

They will also confirm whether they have passed the information on to the police or social services.

Dr Papadopoulos said: "As a psychologist I know how easily people talk themselves out of doing anything. They may think it's none of their business, or they've made a mistake, or they simply can't decide what to do."

Dr Papadopoulos rejected claims that the service would invite malicious messages, saying that the counsellors know how to "sift through real and fake".

In the NSPCC's poll, almost half of adults (48%) who had been concerned about a child had not acted straight away because they were not sure what to do or who to call.

Some said they were worried about being overheard (12%) or did not want to speak to someone on the phone (10%). Others were afraid of retaliation or were anxious about making a mistake.

The NSPCC will pilot the text service until December of this year.

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