Nine arrested in church sex abuse scandal

Nine men linked to the Anglican Church in South Australia, including two former ministers, have been arrested for allegedly abusing children over the past five decades, police said today.

And police warned of more arrests in the sex scandal.

“There are other people that are the subject of ongoing investigations,” Detective Superintendent Grant Stevens told reporters. “There is still quite a long way to go, this is only the first stage in the process.”

South Australia police formed a task force in May last year in response to more than 100 claims of child sex abuse within the Anglican Church in Adelaide in past decades.

By late last year, the task force had uncovered 217 alleged victims and 48 possible offenders.

The scandal forced the Archbishop of Adelaide, Ian George, to quit on June 11, months before his scheduled retirement.

His resignation came after an independent investigation into the handling of the allegations said George, who was not personally accused of abuse, repeatedly undermined or ignored victims’ complaints.

Today the Church issued an apology that was read to congregations in Adelaide.

“We apologise for the shameful way we have actively worked against and discouraged those who have come to us and reported abuse. … We are ashamed to have to acknowledge we only took notice when the survivors of abuse became a threat to us,” the apology said.

All the men arrested so far had direct ties to the Anglican Church including a 58-year-old former minister who allegedly assaulted four teenagers between 1973 and 2000, Mr Stevens said.

Another former Anglican minister, 59 and now living in Queensland, was being extradited today to face four indecent assault charges and one count of sodomy. All the offences allegedly involved one teenager and occurred between 1970 and 1975.

A former foster carer, 54, was charged with indecently assaulting an 11-year-old child who was a ward of state in 1980-81.

The other suspects, aged between 45 and 78, face counts of indecent assault. One, a 78-year-old former surfing coach, was also charged with eight counts of rape relating to incidents allegedly involving two young boys which occurred between 1952 and 1980.

The Church has been plagued by scandal in recent years. More than two years ago, Peter Hollingworth, then governor general, was disgraced in an inquiry that found he had failed to take strong action against known paedophiles when he was a bishop in the early 1990s.

He resigned as the Queen’s representative in Australia last year.