Concerns over low conviction rate of clerics accused of abuse

The head of the Catholic Church's safeguarding watchdog has expressed concern at the low conviction rate of those accused of child sexual abuse.

Teresa Devlin, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI), said just 4pc of all allegations result in a conviction. Ms Devlin was commenting on the findings of the latest tranche of audits by the watchdog which examined 53 allegations made against 44 priests, brothers or nuns across 20 religious orders.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/concerns-over-low-conviction-rate-of-clerics-accused-of-abuse-34254964.html