Scout Leader Sent to Prison For Child Sexual Offences
A former New South Wales scout leader has been given a full term of more than 31 years in prison after pleading guilty to 12 child sexual assault offences, including one count of sexual intercourse with a child under 10...
Westpac Accused of Enabling Child Sexual Offences
In amongst all of the COVID-19 news and updates, it seems we’ve been distracted from a lot of other important social issues. Climate change and domestic violence, for example, as well as the fact that Westpac is being investigated over...
Why Pell Walked: The High Court’s Findings
The full-bench of the High Court of Australia unanimously entered verdicts of acquittal in favour of appellant George Pell on 7 April 2020, in relation to child sexual offences in respect of which a jury unanimously found him guilty in...
George Pell Not Guilty, High Court Finds
Cardinal George Pell will walk free today after the High Court of Australia granted special leave for him to appeal against his convictions in the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria for child sexual offences, allowed his...
Books, Cartoons and Dolls Can Amount to ‘Child Pornography’
Sexual offences involving children incite the highest levels of public condemnation. A conviction relating to child pornography – now referred to as ‘child abuse material’ under most laws – can affect not only a person’s freedom, but tarnish them for...
Child Sexual Abuse and Trafficking are Prevalent in Australia
When you hear about child trafficking and child exploitation, you tend to think of poorer nations, particularly those in Asia that have long been well-known for both. But a new Australian report suggests that it’s more prolific here than most...
Catholic Priest Dies Before Being Sentenced for Child Sexual Abuse
Disgraced former Catholic Priest James Joseph Cunneen, who was found guilty of indecently assaulting six teenage boys in New South Wales in the late 1980s, has died before he could be sentenced. 60-year old Mr Cunneen was due to be...
Indonesia Pressures Foreign Teachers to Take ‘Gay Test’
The Indonesian government is putting pressure on foreign teachers to take a test which it says can determine whether a person has ‘abnormal’ sexual desires. Reports suggest that the exam ask questions such as “agree or disagree: I would feel...
Catholic Church Forced to Pay Victim of Child Sexual Abuse
A man who was sexually assaulted as a child by notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale will receive up to $3 million in a landmark legal settlement with the Catholic Church. The financial settlement is the in which the church has...
George Pell’s Last Bid for Freedom
Making the deadline by just one day, lawyers for George Pell have filed an application for ‘special leave’ (permission) to appeal to the High Court of Australia, seeking to persuade the court there are legal grounds to hear the appeal...