Abuse unit to probe Catholic Church claims
THE Catholic Church is facing a new sex abuse investigation led by an elite police unit.
The revelation comes on the eve of publication of an independent report on abuse scandals within the church, f ollowing an i nquiry by a former Church of Scotland moderator.
Police Scotland said specialist investigators were working to ‘identify both adult survivors of abuse and perpetrators’ in the new investigation.
The probe was triggered by a confidential file of letters from Scottish bishops detailing the claims – relating to around 20 cases – which was compiled by Alan Draper, a former adviser to the church.
Mr Draper, now a l eading campaigner for victims ahead of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming inquiry into historic child abuse, was an adviser to the Motherwell diocese.
The letters, dating back to 1995, include every Scottish diocese.
One bishop, who describes abuse against ‘two severely mentally handicapped young female adults’, asks Mr Draper to destroy his letter after reading it. Another refers to an abused child as a ‘young female parishioner’.
The National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, launched by Police Scotland earlier this year and based at Livingston, West Lothian, is made up of 50 officers and investigates ongoing and historic cases of sexual exploitation, neglect and other forms of child abuse. Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said its key objective was to encourage children to report abuse instead of waiting until adulthood.
Detective Chief Superintendent Lesley Boal, of Police Scotland’s public protection unit, said: ‘In this case the non-recent abuse has been reported by a third party and Police Scotland is working closely with the Catholic Church National Safeguarding Coordinator to identify adult survivors and perpetrators.
‘These investigations, like others involving institutions, will be co-ordinated through the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit.’
No names are mentioned in the documents given to Mr Draper while he conducted an earlier abuse probe for the church.
A former deputy director of social work and a retired senior lecturer in medical ethics, Mr Draper said: ‘ We have had concerns about the resources of the new unit and this will be a real test for them but I am positive and hoping we will be able to get justice for victims.’
The former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, has led an inquiry into how claims of abuse are handled by the Catholic Church. He is due to report tomorrow.
Dr McLellan’s commission was set up in 2013 in the wake of the scandal over Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who quit after admitting homosexual misconduct.
Victims of abuse have been interviewed by the commission but i t has not i nvestigated individual cases.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: ‘Any evidence of historical abuse has been passed to police.’
‘Hoping to get justice’