Sunday 21 October 2012

The law makes an ass of itself over Father F.

 
This was published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 18 October 2012:
 
A former NSW priest who allegedly told three senior Catholic clergy a decade ago that he had repeatedly sexually abused children has been charged with 25 child-sex offences relating to three girls.
The 59-year-old was arrested at a home in Armidale this morning, and is expected to face court this afternoon in relation to the charges dating back to the 1970s and '80s.
Following his arrest, police urged anyone with information about an alleged cover-up by the Catholic Church to come forward…….
Father F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was removed from public ministry after a meeting with three clergy in 1992, following continued allegations of abuse after he was moved from the Armidale diocese to Parramatta.

Readers will notice that for legal reasons the former Catholic priest cannot be named by the media.
 
However, on the very same day, the NSW court system only offered the pretence of a fig leaf to conceal his name in its online lists.
 
I received an email pointing this out to me and I’m sure that it was common knowledge elsewhere by the end of that day as I would not have been the only recipient.
 
Unfortunately, the unthinking court system also listed some other matters associated with these charges in such a way that the three girls (now women) were easily identified.

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