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Strengthened criminal child sexual offence laws now in effect
Priests who learn of child sexual abuse during confessional but fail to report could be imprisoned for up to three years as part of a suite of new provisions introduced under the Criminal Code that came into effect in Queensland this week.
Naomi Neilson
In addition to imprisoning those charged with a failure to report, the new provisions under the Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020 could also see guilty parties convicted of up to five years’ imprisonment for any instances of failing to protect children from institutional abuse.
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Maurice Blackburn Queensland head of abuse law Jed McNamara, who has acted for a number of clients who were abused within the Catholic Church, said the new provisions are an “important step” in making sure the protection of children and the prompt reporting of any allegations of abuse are made a priority.
“[The penalties are] something which we believe will send a strong message to institutions that they must be transparent in calling out sexual abuse at every level; and to act promptly in implementing measures to safeguard children, and to report instances of or suspected instances of child abuse,” Mr McNamara said.
He said the Catholic Church in particular has continued to resist these measures, “which is deeply disappointing”. Mr McNamara said his clients may have avoided their experiences had the mandatory order to report alleged abuse been in effect.
In September 2020, after the provisions were first proposed, Mr McNamara said priest and convicted paedophile Michael McArdle – who was jailed for six years for 62 assaults over 22 years – had confessed to his crimes 1,500 times to 30 different priests over a 25-year period, but nothing had ever come of it.
Around the same time, Bishop Michael McCarthy was slammed for his comments encouraging priests to break the new laws and risk the three-year prison sentence rather than break a confessional seal by reporting child sexual abuse to police.
“With ‘failure to report’ now a criminal offence in Queensland, it remains our hope that child sexual abuse can be prevented in future, and that the protection of children within institutions will forever be a priority,” Mr McNamara said.
