NSW: Letter of apology means little to church sex abuse victim

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2008
NSW: Letter of apology means little to church sex abuse victim

SYDNEY, Aug 13 AAP - An apology from the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney to sexual abuse
victim Anthony Jones is "window dressing" in the face of bad publicity, Mr Jones says.

The former Catholic educator was indecently assaulted by a priest, Terrence Goodall, in 1982.

He has accused Cardinal George Pell of being "deceitful" in his handling of the allegations
that led to Goodall being convicted of indecent assault in 2005.

In 2003 Dr Pell wrote to Mr Jones saying the complaint was unsubstantiated and no one
else had contacted the church with complaints about Goodall, but he has since admitted
being mistaken when he wrote that letter.

At a press conference last month Dr Pell admitted he had wrongly characterised his
personal dismissal of rape allegations as the finding of a church investigation.

Yesterday Mr Jones received a one-page letter from Dr Pell offering an apology for
his February 2003 letter and proposing a meeting between the two men.

"I am writing to you personally so that you know directly from me that the commitments
I made publicly in relation to you in light of the information that came to my attention
following my press conference on July 8, 2008, were genuine," Dr Pell wrote.

"At the press conference I was asked if I was prepared to apologise to you. I said
then, and I wish to repeat to you directly, that I do apologise to you for my letter to
you in February 2003, which was poorly drafted and, I regret, open to interpretation which
I did not intend."

Today, Mr Jones said he would meet Dr Pell on his terms, but added that the contents
of the letter did not mean "a great deal".

"The problem is the truth is still not being told," he told AAP.

"Cardinal Pell is being deceitful, dishonest and protecting the church and this is
nothing but window dressing because they have come under so much pressure over this."

Mr Jones said past offers from Dr Pell for the pair to meet had come with the condition
that the facts and details of the assault would not be discussed.

"Unless he's prepared to do that, to sit down and hear me and discuss the facts and
debate the detail, then there's no point in meeting," he said.

"The facts are well and truly established, they have been well aired in the media."

Mr Jones said his lawyer would reply to Dr Pell's letter, outlining the grounds on
which he was prepared to meet the cardinal.

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KEYWORD: ABUSE JONES

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