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Amanda Vanstone: The persecution of Pell is a disgrace

Former Liberal Minister Amanda Vanstone is right.

What we are seeing is vicious and shameful:

The media frenzy surrounding Cardinal George Pell is the lowest point in civil discourse in my lifetime. I'm 64.

What we are seeing is no better than a lynch mob from the dark ages. Some in the media think they are above the law both overseas and at home.

Inside the Pell trial: we sat in court for months, forbidden from reporting a word

For nearly three months a small group of journalists watched as the most powerful Catholic official to be charged with child sexual abuse faced justice in a Melbourne courtroom.

Until now we have been unable to publish a word of what we heard and saw.

Cardinal George Pell, a confidant to the pope and the financial manager of the Vatican, had been on trial for child sexual abuse – not once, but twice.

Cardinal Sin: How Australia's newspapers reacted to Pell's conviction

News Corp columnists declare Cardinal Pell innocent and 'a scapegoat'

Miranda Devine and her fellow News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt wrote that convicted child molester George Pell was innocent.Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine say Cardinal George Pell’s conviction was wrongful and ‘accusations are implausible’.

Rupert Murdoch’s Australian mastheads have published several prominent articles defending the convicted child molester George Pell and casting doubt on the jury’s unanimous verdict in Melbourne’s county court.

EXCLUSIVE: Yet another assault allegation emerges against George Pell

Cardinal George Pell in Madrid (Image via Flickr / Catholic Church England and Wales, CC2.0)

95 year-old, Eileen Piper, mother of a sex abuse suicide victim, accuses George Pell of physical assault of her brother priest, Monsignor Kevin Toomey. Contributing editor-at-large Tess Lawrencereports.

EILEEN PIPER the mother of church sexual abuse suicide victim Stephanie Piper, has accused Cardinal George Pell of physically assaulting her own brother, Monsignor Kevin Toomey, warning him to back off from his niece’s case.

The indefatigable 95 year old, who is in Covid-19 lockdown at her home after a brief stint in hospital after a fall, wants to make a statement to Victoria Police about the assault.

Read the full judgement summary from George Pell's successful High Court of Australia appeal

Vatican finance chief Cardinal George PellCardinal George Pell has been acquitted of all convictions.(AFP: Andreas Solaro)

Liberal archbishop under investigation for possible pedophile cover-up, mistreatment of informant

Type of protection : Granting release

An Australian prelate is under investigation for alleged mistreatment of a woman who brought forth information about child abuse in the bishop’s former diocese.

Liberal archbishop under investigation for possible pedophile cover-up, mistreatment of informant
Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia Lisa Bourne/LifeSite

The complaint against Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge dates back to a 2006 meeting in which the unnamed woman informed the then-head of the Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn about child abuse.

Coleridge is said to have called the woman a “gossip” and “acted aggressively towards her.” 

Paedophile politicians - the ones that got away

Type of protection : Granting release

Sympathetic support for lowering the age of consent, child porn, pederasty and even an established Westminster paedophile ring have been covered up in the corridors of power, writes STEVEN WALKER

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is progressing slowly but revealing details not widely known, such as the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) being funded for three years in the 1970s by the Home Office. At the time, the PIE was campaigning to legalise sex with children under 16 and was supported by the National Council for Civil Liberties, then led by Blairite stalwarts Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman.

The inquiry was ordered by Theresa May when she was home secretary, started in 2014 and now focuses on Westminster and allegations against MPs. It had its origins in the revelations that emerged after Jimmy Savile’s death. Many of his victims were disabled or dying in specialist hospitals such as Stoke Mandeville, and Leeds General Infirmary. The subsequent report showed 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes, recorded against Savile’s name across Britain between 1955 and 2009.

Paedophiles in Parliament: Get ready for a whitewash

Type of protection : Granting release

The inquiry into paedophile allegations in Parliament has been designed to hide the truth, says STEVEN WALKER

Theresa May’s predictable grandstanding announcement last week of an inquiry into historic allegations of a paedophile ring operating within Parliament was a classic Establishment dodge.

It was a case study in media management as will be her appearance before the Home Affairs select committee today (Monday 14 July).

Perhaps there is some irony in that July 14 is Bastille Day, celebrated in republican France as the beginning of the end of absolute monarchy and preceding the publication of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen which enshrined the concept of free individuals protected equally by law.

Not exactly what we see being carried out in relation to the legal investigations into the vile abuse of children by MPs.

Lord Steel's title should be removed, lawyer to Cyril Smith's victims tells LBC

Editors notes: Lord Steel recommended Cyril Smith for a knighthood - which he got and took to the grave.
Abusers job or title:: Lord Steel
Type of protection : Granting release

A handful of prominent MPs including Liberal leader Cyril Smith and Conservative Peter Morrison were "known to be active in their sexual interest in children" but avoided prosecution.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Steel resigned yesterday from the party and the Lords after the inquiry revealed he failed to pass on allegations against the late MP Cyril Smith. Despite Lord Steel believing claims against Smith to be true, he "abdicated responsibility" because it was past history, according to the dossier.

He later recommended Smith for a knighthood.

Nick asked lawyer to Cyril Smith's victims, Professor Laura Hoyano, whether anyone who looked the other way "should be stripped of any title or honour they have."

"If the evidence is sufficient to warrant the honours committee and the forfeiture committee to look at it, I would say yes," she replied, and added that at present it is not possible to posthumously strip someone of their title but believes this policy should be changed forthwith.

Cyril Smith (left) with Lord Steel who failed to report allegations, according to the report
Cyril Smith (left) with Lord Steel who failed to report allegations, according to the report. Picture: PA

Nick Ferrari questioned the point of the inquiry as offenders including Smith and Morrison are deceased so obviously cannot be prosecuted; Ms Hoyano responded that the report has exposed police misconduct.

The report found "that the police had been forced by senior officers to stop investigations of Cyril Smith in 1977-8 that indicated that he was exploiting children sexually whilst he was a member of parliament," she said.

Abuser Name or Alias:: Lord Steel
Abusers Organisation:: UK Goverment

Police and politicians ‘turned blind eye’ to Westminster child abuse claims

Type of protection : Granting release

Inquiry into child sexual abuse also criticises prosecutors but rejects claims of ‘organised paedophile network’

Germany’s secret paedophilia experiment

Type of protection : Granting release

Drug addicts and prostitutes: Dr Helmut Kentler,  a sex researcher, believed he was giving Berlin’s troubled teens a social anchor while giving paedophiles a chance to become  caring foster parents. Illustration: DFP/MCT via GettyUnder the ‘Kentler Experiment’ of the 1970s, Berlin welfare authorities handed over homeless teenagers to known paedophiles

A mother and her young son board a train and sit opposite a forty-something man.  When they get up to disembark the mans smile towards the blond boy takes on a troubled edge. “Do you love children a little more than you like?” asks the advertisement on TV screens on Berlin’s U-Bahn trains. The final message – “Don’t become a perpetrator” – is also the name of a groundbreaking paedophile research and therapy programme.

The campaign began in Berlin 11 years ago and now operates in 10 cities across Germany. About 7,000 people have made contact, and about 1,000 paedophiles – people who are sexually attracted to children – have received therapy.

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