Report says 1,100 complaints of child abuse made against Australias Anglican church

[Heddi]

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/17/report-says-1100-complaints-of-child-abuse-made-against-australias-anglican-church/

SYDNEY (Reuters) The head of Australia’s Anglican Church expressed sorrow and shame after a government report said close to 1,100 people had filed child sexual assault claims against the church over a 35-year period.

The interim report published on Friday (March 17 ), which said most children were aged around 11 when they were abused, came a month after a high-level inquiry into child abuse was told the Australian Catholic church had paid A $276 million ($212 million) in compensation to thousands of victims since 1980.

The report, which was published by the same inquiry, the Royal Commission Into Child Abuse, said the complaints identified 569 Anglican clergy, teachers and volunteers as alleged abusers. There were another 133 alleged abusers whose roles at the church were not known.

..
The current royal commission had previously heard that seven percent of Catholic priests working in Australia between 1950 and 2010 were accused of child sex crimes, but few were pursued.

The commission’s latest report said 1,082 people had lodged complaints between 1980 and 2015 about 1,115 alleged incidents while they were under the care of the Anglican church. Some of the incidents dated back to 1950.

....

“We are deeply ashamed of the many ways in which we have let down survivors, both in the way we have acted and the way we have failed to act,” she said.

[hrmjustin]

1. Definitely appalling!

We in the Episcopal Church which is the American branch of Anglicans have very good reporting policies. Call the police, not the bishop!