Vol. 446 No. 3
30 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice if she will make it a criminal offence to knowingly conceal, or fail to report to Gardaí, adults who are known to have sexually molested children in view of recent events; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2193/94]
Child abuse, including child sexual abuse, is a form of crime which the vast majority of people abhor. There is a duty on all of us to protect children from abuse. If a person becomes aware that a child has been the subject of a sexual assault, the matter should be reported to the Garda. Secrecy is not the way to deal with this problem.
Under the existing law a person who knowingly conceals a felon, which includes a person who sexually assaulted a child, or the fact that a felony has taken place — and any sexual assault is a felony — could, depending on the circumstances, be found to be an accessory after the fact and liable on conviction to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Where a person, knowing that a felony has taken place, does not report that felony to the police then the offence of misprison of felony may have occurred. That offence is subject to certain limitations such as non-disclosure due to a claim of right made in good faith. For example, a doctor might be entitled not to report a felony if the information regarding the crime was disclosed in the context of a professional relationship.
The existing law, which is of general application, therefore does, at least to some degree, cover the issues raised by the Deputy.
I know the Deputy is particularly concerned about this matter in the context of child sexual abuse and whether some strengthening of the law is required to deal with concealment of that particular form of abuse. The Law Reform Commission in its Report of Child Sexual Abuse (LRC 32-1990) specifically addressed the question of mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse. It also arose for consideration in the report submitted to the Minister for Health in the Kilkenny incest case. The matter, as is clear from the Law Reform Commission report, raises a number of controversial issues and could have significant implications, in particular for health and social workers. The Minister for Health has primary responsibility for the examination of the issues involved and is looking at the matter. I understand he intends to engage in a widespread consultative process with interested groups on the issues involved before finalising his own views.
I mentioned the need to report suspicions of child abuse to the Garda and perhaps I should say a little more about Garda capacity to deal with such cases.
As previously announced, the Garda now have a specialist unit — the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit — which is based in Dublin but is available to give advice and specialist assistance, as required, to all divisions. In addition, a Garda inspector has been assigned responsibility in each division to co-ordinate and exercise an overview of cases involving domestic assault, including child sexual abuse, and to liaise with the specialist unit based in Dublin if and when the need arises. I have outlined the position in this regard because I think it is important the public should know that, within the Garda Síochána, there is the level of expertise necessary to ensure that cases of this kind are handled effectively and sensitively.
I stress that my question relates not to persons who are suspected of having molested children but to persons known to have committed such offence. Given that the Fr. Brendan Smyth case has revealed an institutionalised culture of cover-up, by reassignment in the context of the higher echelons of the Catholic Church, as has been admitted by the Church, will the Minister agree it is now time to confront the Church about this issue and to impose a penalty for non-reporting of known cases of sexual molestation of children? Will the Minister agree also it is necessary that a clear message goes out from this House that the reporting of such crimes cannot be waived, for example, by a monetary settlement as has been the case in the United States? Also, in relation to this particular case, are there any plans to initiate proceedings and prosecutions in relation to crimes which may have been committed by Fr. Brendan Smyth in this jurisdiction?
I am not aware that there are any plans at present but, as I said in an interview over the weekend, if such complaints are made to the Garda they will be dealt with regardless of which quarter they come from or where blame is laid. I share the sense of outrage which has been widely expressed since the Fr. Smyth case came to public attention and the fact that so many children in this and our nearest jurisdiction were exposed to risk over a long period. People who have knowledge of such crimes should be obliged to report them to the prosecuting authorities. It is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Garda as to whether a person should be prosecuted and it would not be appropriate for me to make any public comment on whether I think a person or a number of persons who knew such acts were taking place should or should not be prosecuted.
The Minister referred to the common law offence of misprision of a felony. Is she aware of any such prosecutions for such an offence in the recent past? If there are no recent examples of such charges, surely that indicates the law is not effective and needs to be legislatively recast with particular reference to the reporting of sexual abuse cases?
I am not aware if there have been recent cases but we have a large body of law for dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault offences, including child sexual assault and many amendments have been made, including the Criminal Evidence Act, in relation to child sexual abuse cases in particular. If it is represented to me that further changes are required in this area to protect children — that is our primary responsibility — I will not hesitate to further amend the criminal law appropriately.
