How Young is Too Young To Testify in Court?
A statement from a two-year old girl is being credited for leading to the child sexual assault conviction of her alleged abuser. The girl is believed to be the youngest person in the United Kingdom to give a statement to...
Tough New Laws for Child Sex Offenders
The Federal government has announced tough new laws for sex-offenders - purported to be the harshest since the establishment of the Criminal Code Act in 1995. The proposed legislation, called Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection...
Priests Should be Prosecuted for Failing to Report Child Sexual Assault
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has recommended that clergy who fail to report child sexual assaults disclosed during religious confessions should face criminal charges. The Commissioners heard evidence that confessions of child sexual abuse were...
Police DNA Bungle Clears Alleged Child Abusing Priest
Victorian Police have admitted a major bungle of DNA evidence that led to several key suspects being ruled out as suspects in the brutal 1980 murder of Melbourne mother Maria James. The murder investigation hinged on a bloodied pillowcase, which...
Cardinal Pell Charged with Multiple Child Sex Offences
Victoria Police have confirmed that Australia’s highest ranking Catholic has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including one of rape, in relation to allegations of criminal conduct in the 1970s. The charges follow months of speculation about whether police...
Prosecuting Potential Predators: Government Passes ‘Carly’s Law’
In 2007, 15-year old Carly Ryan was murdered in South Australia by 47-year old Gary Newman - who created more than 200 fake online profiles of young men to prey on underage girls. Carly’s mother, Sonya Ryan, later established the...
Cardinal George Pell May Never Face Trial in Australia
Earlier this week, Victorian police confirmed they had received advice from the State’s Director of Public Prosecutions regarding historic allegations of child sexual assault against former-Sydney Archbishop George Pell. While police are yet to announce whether formal charges will be...
Archbishops Slam Catholic Church for Covering-Up Widespread Child Sexual Abuse
Five of Australia’s most senior Catholic figures fronted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse, all of whom condemned the Church’s failure to protect vulnerable children. The archbishops of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth were questioned about how...
New Offence Targets Adults who Procure Children to Commit Crimes
Adults who encourage children to commit crimes could face lengthy prison sentences under new laws to be introduced into Victorian Parliament. The proposal comes on the back of assertions by Victoria Police that organised crime groups are grooming young members...
Australian Child Sex Offenders May be Banned from Travelling Overseas
The Federal Government is proposing new laws which would prohibit child sex offenders from leaving Australia. The announcement has been hailed as a win for Australia’s oldest and perhaps most controversial senator, Derryn Hinch - also known as the “Human...
