It’s quite a saddening thing to see that there are many abuse victims worldwide with all sorts of perpetrators. However, it becomes way worse when the victims are the youth of our generation, more so when the offenders take up guises of good people to do what they want(often unspeakable things) with children. This brings us to the topic of the article; abuse cases in the clergy.
Abuse Lawyers
If you’re a victim of one of these cruel acts, then you’re going to have to have strong and good-willed people that would see through the eyes of the survivor of the abuse. That’s exactly what the Kelso Lawyers are there to do. Their law firm was established by Peter Kelso, also a survivor of physical and emotional abuse from his foster parents.
Having someone in the field who has had the same experience of what the abuse survivors do makes their work more earnest and reliable in a way that would shape the entire perspectives of the lawyers over at that law firm. Their expertise covers clergy and institutional as well as foster parents’ abuse claims. They also provide a service for those abused in the Australian Defence Force(which is not limited to child abuse).
The Royal Commission’s Report on Abuse Cases
Around 4,444 alleged incidents of abuse were established by the Royal Commission, and an estimated 1,880 abuser suspects from between 1980 to 2015. A significant number of these abusers were suspected to be Catholic priests and religious figures – adding on to that, at least 62% of the abuse survivors reported to the commission that these incidents occurred within a religious institution – a Catholic one, more specifically.
Although Australia’s Catholic leaders were among the first to publicly address child abuse, it was said that church officials in the past did not handle the situation very well. The abusers were only transferred instead of being stripped of their statuses which caused even more problems for everyone. A shocking 43 suicide deaths were tied towards being abused in the clergy.
Cases of Abuse Across The Nation
The alleged abuse claims have been dealt with accordingly, albeit relatively recent, which means that there might still be plenty of unreported cases of abuse occurring in religious facilities – in cities all over the nation. However, the offenders were only brought to light recently, so their acts of abuse could have taken place much longer in the past.
Archdiocese of Adelaide
Father Albert Davis(a former member of the Dominican Order) was charged with 17 assault incidents in 2006. The assaults from Father Albert Davis involved 7 boys between the years of 1956 and 1960. He was to stand trial in the Adelaide District Court, but he died before the proceedings could even start.
Archdiocese of Sydney
Father Roger Flaherty pleaded guilty to the molestation of three altar boys between the years of 1970s to the 1980s. In 2016, he received a sentence of 2 years and 2 weeks in prison – 5 months after he pleaded guilty. However, due to his health conditions, he was allowed to be on parole only after 6 months during his sentence.
Sometime in the next year after Fr Roger Flaherty’s arrest, Father Denis Chrysostom Alexander was arrested for physical and abuse around the 1970s. His punishments were that he had to be deported to Scotland. The investigation into his abuse also made him lose his “priestly faculties” by word of the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Since Sydney is most likely the most popular city in Australia, the uproar caused here is noticeably higher than those of the other cities. However, the actions of these “priestly offenders” are only being brought to light very recently, despite their incidents being committed over 40 or 50 years ago.
Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle
The diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is more known to be the “epicenter” of abuse in Catholic clergies throughout Australia – because of a couple of pedophile priests with a long record of abuse. To the point where they have their own police strikeforce dedicated to abuse in clergies – laying down more than 170 charges of abuse.
Father Vincent Ryan(where 6 million dollars was given as compensation to victims). Father David O’Hearn (who is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence). Father James Fletcher(who died in jail around 15 years ago). All of these priests are convicted abusers by this dedicated strikeforce.
Takeaway
It’s imperative for you to seek out lawyers who specialize in the dealings of child abuse in any form. The sooner people deal with those incidents of assault, physical, and emotional abuse, the sooner they could contribute to make not only yours but also other children’s lives so much safer. This is a sad fact to say since those incidents all occurred in the holy facilities that Catholic churches provide.
