The handling of historic sexual offending within the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin by then-Bishop John Kavanagh has been referred to the Vatican by New Zealand’s top Catholic.
Published in Radio New Zealand
A support group for survivors of sexual abuse by priests wants more transparency over an agreement struck with the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin.
But the call by Dr Christopher Longhurst, representing the New Zealand branch of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), has also triggered an acrimonious exchange with another support group.
Published in Otago Daily Times
Warning: This story discusses issues related to rape and sexual violence.
Survivors have extended an olive branch to those running the Royal Commission of Inquiry into state abuse. Laura Walters reports on growing frustrations over a lack of communication a fortnight on from revelations survivors were exposed to a convicted child sex offender.
Published in Newsroom
A Melbourne man is fighting to hold the Catholic church accountable for three clerics and a teacher who sexually violated him as a boy in Otago. Marc – RNZ won’t use his surname – has come back to New Zealand to give evidence and to beg the Royal Commission to weigh in on his second bid for some kind of justice. Phil Pennington reports.
By Morning Report
Published in Radio New Zealand
11 October 2019
The man whose child sex abuse case gripped the city of Christchurch and the nation, has died.
Peter Ellis’ death comes just five weeks before his last bid to clear his name before the Supreme Court.
The 61-year-old was jailed for a decade in 1993, on 16 counts of sexual offending against seven children at the Christchurch Civic creche.
Published in News Hub
A Catholic bishop who is part of the church’s response to the Royal Commission of inquiry into state abuse has offered his resignation to the Pope.
Published in Radio New Zealand
The Catholic bishop of Palmerston North is expected to resign after less than eight years in the job.
Stuff understands Pope Francis has been asked, or will be asked on Friday, to accept 59-year-old Bishop Charles Drennan’s resignation. The reasons for the resignation are not known.
Drennan has been the only bishop on the support group known as Te Rōpū Tautoko, which was set up to manage co-operation between the Catholic Church and the Abuse in Care Royal Commission.
Published in Stuff
Abstract: The rate of violent victimization against children with disabilities is thought to be lower than the rate for children without disabilities but several studies shows otherwise.
This paper is available at Science Direct
December 2019
New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have been accused of lacking moral leadership as church groups decide whether to waive confidentiality clauses in compensation agreements reached with abuse survivors.
Survivor advocates say bishops’ silence on the issue, as the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic abuse gears up for public hearings, goes against recent edicts by Pope Francis directing senior clerics to build trust with survivors by being transparent and ensuring victims’ voices are heard.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin has refused to express confidence in the leadership of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, after it was revealed a convicted child sex offender was involved.
Published in YYY
The commissioner embroiled in the latest scandal at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care says he won’t be stepping down.
Paul Gibson is responsible for the group of sexual abuse survivors who advise the Royal Commission as it investigates historical abuse of children in state and church care.
Yesterday it was revealed that a partner of one of the advisory group members is a convicted child sex offender and has attended gatherings alongside members of the group.
Published in Radio New Zealand
Warning: This story discusses issues related to rape and sexual violence.
Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin says she is “horrified” that a child sex offender attended meetings of the inquiry into state abuse of children but that there isn’t much she can do about it.
Newsroom reported on Tuesday that the Royal Commission into state abuse of children allowed a convicted child sex offender into three meetings with survivors.
The man is the partner of one of advisory group members and was attending as a support person. The commission was told that the man needed to notify police ahead of any travel.
Published in Stuff
Warning: This story discusses issues related to rape and sexual violence.
A member of a survivors’ group advising the Government’s abuse in care inquiry has skipped its latest meeting after revelations her partner is a convicted paedophile.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into state of faith-based care appointed 18 people, themselves victims of abuse, to a survivors’ advisory group early this year.
Published in Stuff
The Network for Survivors of Abuse in Faith-based Institutions has published a guide for survivors who want to report to the Royal Commission.
Download a copy of the guide (DOC format).
A report evaluating the pilot of New Zealand’s first Sexual Violence Court says pilot cases are proceeding to jury trial about a third faster on average than previously.
The evaluation also says that most complainants feel the pilot’s trials are managed in a way that does not cause them to feel retraumatised by the process.
The pilot has been running in the District Court at Auckland and Whangārei since December 2016 for all serious (Category 3) sexual violence cases to be heard by a jury. The pilot set out to reduce pre-trial delays and improve the court experience for participants.
Published in New Zealand Law Society
Pedophile cardinal George Pell has lodged a special leave application with the High Court to try to challenge his convictions for sexually abusing choirboys.
The 78-year-old pedophile remained behind bars on Tuesday as his lawyers lodged a special leave application with Australia’s highest court.
A spokesperson for the High Court confirmed it had received the application through its Melbourne registry, “requesting leave to appeal a decision”.
Published in SBS