Richard Scorer urges mandatory reporting of abuse within the Church

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law and public inquiries at Slater and Gordon, public inquiries has spoken out about the report last week on Pope Benedict and his failure to act against four priests accused of sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich.

Benedict argued that the Catholic Church can be trusted to self-police, but two of these cases were from abuse which happened during Benedict's tenure as Archbishop and in both cases, the perpetrators remained active in pastoral care.

Richard, who represented many victims and survivors in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), commented that this 'hypocrisy is further evidence that the church must be forced to report abuse to secular authorities'.

In the article, featured in Premier Christianity, Richard states that the only way to tackle this issue would be through mandatory reporting so that cases of abuse can be investigated independently from those who might know the abuser and want to cover it up to protect their reputation.

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