"Adelaide abuse inquiry hearing to go ahead"
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- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Friday, 21 February 2014 11:34
- Written by AAP
A public inquiry into sex abuse at a special school in Adelaide will go ahead even though a civil case against the school is ongoing.
Concerns that a public hearing into an Adelaide special school where disabled children were sexually abused could prejudice civil proceedings have been overruled by the royal commission into child sexual abuse.
A hearing into the responses by the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and the South Australia Police to allegations of child sexual abuse at St Ann's Special School in the late `70s and early `80s will go ahead as scheduled on March 17.
At a directions hearing in Sydney on Friday, the Archdiocese of Adelaide and the Catholic Church Insurer expressed concerns that the public hearing could potentially prejudice civil proceedings.
A civil case by six parents of profoundly disabled children who were abused by a bus driver employed by St Ann's has been running for 12 years.
The March hearing will examine the circumstances in which the driver, Brian Perkins, who was subsequently jailed for 10 years, was allowed to work at the school.
Among other matters the hearing will look at the basis of payment of monies by the Catholic Education Office, Archdiocese of Adelaide to the parents of those alleged to have been sexually abused.
In 2003 the archdiocese paid $2.25 million in unconditional, ex-gratia payments to the families.
Six of the families then started legal proceedings against the school for negligence and the case has not yet been resolved.
Justice Peter McClellan, chair of the commission, said on Friday while it was conceivable there might be some issues that might have to be quarantined, there was no reason for the hearing not to proceed as planned.
"When the defence that has been filed gives us no assistance whatsoever in how the claim of negligence is traversed then it is not possible in this point in time to make any judgment about whether or not there will be a problem."
One of the six parents, Peter Mitchell, has started an online petition requesting the Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson to intervene to speed up the civil proceedings. (Source : http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/21/adelaide-abuse-inquiry-hearing-go-ahead)
