Church had informal deal to sanitise sex abuse

One senior officer was even under the impression that this arrangement had been operating for years. Greens MP and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge said, “It is clear from these documents that the Church had decided that it would not provide crucial evidence of abuse cases to the NSW Police unless and until they were ordered to do so by a Court.” He also said, “The Church’s position was not only a gross breach of its duty to protect children from abuse, it also appears to be have been in direct conflict with its obligations under the Crimes Act to provide this evidence to police.” The records accessed by Greens MP David Shoebridge showed that two attempts were made to finalise memorandums of understanding between the church and the police force in which the church stated it would only make information relevant to the accused available if required by to do so. Barrister Geoffrey Watson SC says the agreement would have placed police in breach of the Crimes Act but NSW Police say neither memorandum of understanding was ever signed, or in force.