Dutch prosecutors covered up clerical abuse, new book charges

October 07, 2010

A Dutch journalist has charged that prosecutors dropped cases against Catholic priests who had been accused of sexual abuse despite clear evidence.

In his book Pious Sinners, Joep Dohmen says that prosecutors failed to seek convictions even when priests admitted their crimes, and discouraged abuse victims from giving evidence against priests. The charge of a “cover-up culture” among law-enforcement officials opens a new line of inquiry in a country where Catholic bishops have been criticized for their slow response to abuse allegations.

A spokeswoman for Dutch prosecutors denied that a “cover-up” was involved in the decisions not to prosecute priests. However she conceded: “It must be said that these were not correct decisions."

 

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Further information:

• Dutch prosecutors were wrong to drop Catholic abuse cases (Reuters)