Australian authorities ignored sex abuse claims, police files vanish
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April 5, 2004 Psychologist's theft, threat claims probed Police are investigating two matters involving psychologist Reina Michaelson. As well as the break-in report, they are looking into an alleged threat made by a TV network executive against one of Dr Michaelson's relatives in August 2000. Since Dr Michaelson's original meeting with Police Commissioner Christine Nixon, two other people have become involved in the pedophile matter. They are the founder of the Queensland-based child abuse advocacy group Bravehearts, Hetty Johnston, and Gail McHardy, the president of Parents Victoria, the peak body representing the parents of children at government schools, have become directly involved in the issue. Ms Johnston, Ms McHardy and Dr Michaelson met the Assistant Commissioner for Crime, Simon Overland, last August to raise concerns about the slow progress and conduct of the investigation. The three have now told The Age they have lost confidence in the integrity of the current Ombudsman and police investigations and want an independent inquiry into the allegations. Authorities ignored sex abuse claims By Gary Hughes. April 6, 2004 The Department of Human Services refused to mount its own investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of schoolchildren in a Victorian country town after details were provided through the mandatory reporting system. The decision was made following advice from police, whose alleged mishandling of the investigation is now part of a Victorian Ombudsman's inquiry. The former student welfare co-ordinator at the school, which cannot be identified for legal reasons, told The Age that the police investigation was "incompetent" and the children had been treated by police in an "appalling" manner. A detective claimed a jury would not be convinced a boy had been abused because "similar behaviour of males attempting to touch other men's penises happens in football rooms after the game", said the co-ordinator, who took detailed notes. The Age revealed yesterday that the case is part of an Ombudsman's investigation into alleged police mishandling of a number of child sex abuse cases and possible corrupt police behaviour In developments yesterday: * The Law Institute of Victoria renewed its call for an independent review of Victoria's police complaints system and, if necessary, the creation of a powerful anti-corruption commission similar to bodies in NSW and Queensland. * The Queensland-based child advocacy group Bravehearts announced it was setting up a Victorian branch to help victims of sexual crimes. Mandatory notifications of alleged abuse at the school were made by teachers to the Department of Human Services in December 1999. In January 2000 the school's principal and the student welfare co-ordinator wrote to the then minister for community services, Christine Campbell, expressing concern that "no child protection investigation ever took place". In her reply, Ms Campbell said an assessment was done to decide whether a "more formal and direct investigation" was required. "Protective services examined all the information made available by yourself and the police and determined that no such direct investigation was required at that time," she said. The student welfare co-ordinator, who sat in on police interviews with the alleged victims, said police handling of the investigation was "appalling". The co-ordinator said two of the children later made detailed statements at the local police station, but even these did not lead to charges being laid. Law Institute president Chris Dale said the issues under investigation added weight to the institute's calls for an independent children and young persons' commissioner. Bravehearts can be contacted on 0400 656 599. Police files on sex abuse 'vanished' By Gary Hughes, April 19, 2004 Police files on a suspect in claimed sexual abuse by men dressed as police are said to have "disappeared". A deputy principal who reported a student's claim of the abuse says detectives later told him that Victoria Police computer files on one of the alleged pedophiles were tampered with. He was also told his initial report to the Department of Human Services under the mandatory reporting system disappeared. The 13-year-old boy told staff at the school he had been repeatedly sexually abused by a number of men on the Mornington Peninsula. He said some of the men wore police uniforms and warned him that they would know if he reported the abuse because they were policemen. The boy had also been used to produce child pornography later published overseas. The deputy principal said it was clear from a detailed 12-page statement made by the boy that the abuse was conducted by an organised and "well-connected" pedophile ring. No charges were laid because police said the boy had been "too well groomed" by the pedophiles and it was doubtful he would testify in court. The deputy principal contacted The Age after it revealed this month that the Ombudsman was investigating the alleged mishandling of a number of child sexual abuse cases by Victoria Police. The Age advised him to contact the Ombudsman, which he has since done. One case being reviewed by the Ombudsman involves children at a child-care centre in Mornington. Investigators have been told that a house where the alleged abuse took place possibly belonged to a policeman and that a videotape existed of children from the centre being abused by men dressed as police. The deputy principal from the college in Melbourne's outer east has asked that neither he nor the college be named to protect the identity of the abused boy. The deputy principal, who has since become principal of another school, lodged an initial report with what was then Community Services Victoria in July 1995. He telephoned about two weeks later and was told the report was being investigated. The deputy principal said it was clear from a statement made by the boy that the abuse was conducted by an organised pedophile ring. After the boy made more detailed disclosures and began displaying disturbing behaviour, the school lodged a second mandatory report in December 1995 through the Education Department's regional office. The complaint was taken "very seriously" and police were called. The deputy principal said police told him there was no record of the original report to community services or his follow-up phone call. A senior child protection manager told him it was not the first time reports had disappeared. Detectives from a community policing unit said the main alleged offender in the ring was well known to police, the deputy principal said. But the police said a previous case against him had been abandoned after information on police files had disappeared. "I started to pinch myself and think is this real or not? It seemed quite bizarre and I was very frustrated..." he said. After police dropped the investigation in 1996 the boy "totally clammed up" and staff at the school did not know whether the abuse continued. A Victoria Police spokesman said the original allegation had been investigated, including a search of the main suspect's home that found no incriminating evidence. The boy involved had refused to repeat to police the disclosures he had earlier made to school staff. The spokesman said he was not aware that files had disappeared. See also Pedophiles, child pornography and police corruption in Victoria, Australia
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