Child abuse
‘We failed’: Victoria flags truth-telling process for child abuse victims
Glen Fearnett hoped for change after he spoke out about being abused at a Melbourne school. Victim-survivors will now be given a platform to tell their stories.
- by Bridie Smith and Rachel Eddie
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Courts
Stepmother jailed for bashing six-year-old WA girl over the head with cricket ball stuffed in a sock
A Perth woman has been jailed for 18 months after violently beating her six-year-old stepdaughter, leaving horrific bruises.
- by Rebecca Peppiatt
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Crime
Abuse victim sues parole board for letting paedophile priest access children
A man abused by notorious priest Michael Glennon has launched legal action believed to be the first attempt in Victoria to extend culpability for historical clerical abuse.
- by Chip Le Grand
Jess was put in state care at 15. It was so bad she ran away 137 times
Jess felt lonely, isolated and full of anxiety in her time in residential care. But the state children’s commissioner says she was lucky; others are targeted by criminals and prostituted out.
- by Christine Ahern and Laura Sparkes
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Courts
‘Most evil crimes imaginable’: Childcare worker, partner jailed for decades
The NSW childcare worker and his partner abused dozens of children over several years and filmed the acts.
- by Clare Sibthorpe
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Child safety
‘Like a dog in a cage’: Desperate lives of kids in emergency care revealed
Children as young as 12 reported allegations of sexual assault, drug use and abandonment in motel rooms without close supervision.
- by Michael McGowan
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Catholic college ordered to remove paedophile priest from honour roll
Despite apologising and paying more than $1 million to a victim of clerical abuse, Salesian College continued to eulogise a disgraced priest for years.
- by Cameron Houston
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Crime
‘The system needs to catch up’: Push to abolish suspended sentences for child sex offenders
Survivor and campaigner Stewart Carter – who watched the man who abused him walk free from court – is calling on the state government to back the state opposition’s bill.
- by Erin Pearson
‘Limited visibility’ for teens in group homes amid worrying number of reports
New data shows an increasing number of reports of significant harm to children living in group homes funded by the government.
- by Amber Schultz
We’ve been worried about kids on the internet for 30 years. Is it time to toughen up on tech?
The alleged stabbing of a Sydney bishop by a teenager has reignited Australian alarm at the realities of online harm, reopening a debate about how to protect children.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Analysis
Naked City
A ‘disgusting, reprehensible’ case is shrouded in secrecy. And that’s not uncommon
Secrecy in justice should be a last resort, but it is widespread in Victoria. Is the system fair?
- by John Silvester