Church unveils panel to investigate abuse allegations

A NEW independent panel to investigate cases of alleged abuse where the police have taken no action was unveiled yesterday by the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

A pilot scheme allowing an investigator to report to a panel chaired by a judge, senior lawyer or member of the social care professions in cases where there is a possible risk but police have judged there to be no realistic prospect of a prosecution, is under way, the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission said.

Adrian Child, director of the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service, (CSAS), said the independent investigation procedure would concentrate expertise in handling cases where the police said no prosecution was viable but there was an “unclarified level of possible risk”.

Decisions about how to deal with alleged abusers within the Catholic Church in England and Wales where there has been no police action are presently taken at a diocesan level, he said.

He said: “Although we report as a matter of course all these allegations to the police and statutory authorities what often happens after a preliminary inquiry by the police, is that they don’t believe there is any likelihood of a successful prosecution because of the passage of time, difficulties of collecting evidence and so on and so forth.

“They return the case back to us but often with an indication that in their view, there is a level of concern or a level of credibility about the allegation that was made.

“So there isn’t going to be a prosecution, the case isn’t going to go to court, the police are no longer involved and yet we have an individual about whom there is an unclarified level of possible risk.”

His remarks come as the commission reported 50 allegations of abuse against children last year, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect. A “significant number” related to incidents said to have taken place in the 1970s, with more than half going back 30 years or more.

Of 51 alleged abusers, 30 are clergy or religious, seven volunteers, six parishioners and five employees, the commission said in its first annual report.

The allegations made last year have so far resulted in one police caution or warning, three convictions and one jail sentence, the report said. But no further action was taken by the statutory authorities in 29 cases, the report said, for a number of reasons including insufficient evidence and the death of the alleged abuser.