"the elders were destroying the records in the NAPA Congregations"
http://www.silentlambs.org/slalert.htm
"1. This letter updates the letters to all bodies of elders regarding child abuse dated March 23, 1992; February 3, 1993; August 1, 1995; March 14, 1997; July 20, 1998; May 24, 2002; April 1, 2004; June 5, 2006; and May 24, 2010.
Those letters should be removed from the congregation permanent file of policy letters and be destroyed.
No one should keep originals or copies of any of those letters."
October 1, 2012TO ALL BODIES OF ELDERSRe: Child abuse
http://governingbodyletters.blogspot.com/
Watchtower - Destroy the document!
http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/watchtower-destroy-document.html
"After further review" elders were told to destroy them.
http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-happened-at-watchtower-in-2001.html
In 1994, The Philadelphia Archdiocese; Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was informed that the secret list of 35 priests had been shredded per his instructions.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/24/justice/pennsylvania-church-abuse
Attorneys: Cardinal ordered memo on priests destroyedBy the CNN Wire Staffupdated 5:59 AM EST, Mon February 27, 2012
Philly priest sex abuse case cover-up?STORY HIGHLIGHTSMonsignor asks charges against him be thrown outHe claims late cardinal ordered list destroyedList allegedly contained names of suspected priests
(CNN) -- A Philadelphia archdiocese official on trial for allegedly covering up the sexual abuse of children has asked a court to throw out charges against him based on a 1994 memo showing Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua ordered a list of suspected abusive Catholic priests to be destroyed.
Attorneys for Monsignor William Lynn asked a Philadelphia court to dismiss charges of conspiracy and child endangerment based on documents that Lynn had informed his superiors -- including the cardinal -- that priests in the archdiocese were assaulting children.
"The recent unexpected and shocking discovery of a March, 1994 memorandum composed by Monsignor James Molloy, Monsignor Lynn's then-supervisor, on the topic of this review, clearly reveals that justice demands that all charges against Monsignor Lynn be dropped," Lynn's attorneys said in a filing.
As revealed in court papers filed on Friday, Molloy's handwritten memo dated March 22, 1994, informed Bevilacqua that the secret list of 35 priests had been shredded per his instructions.
"On 3-22-94 at 10:45 AM I shredded, in the presence of Reverend Joseph R. Cistone, four copies of these lists from the secret archives," Molloy's memo stated. "The action was taken on the basis of a directive I received from Cardinal Bevilacqua at the Issues meeting of 3-15-94 ...."
According to the filing, the document was discovered in a locked cabinet in an archdiocese administrative office. It did not elaborate on how the document came to light.
Bevilacqua, who died on January 31, testified 10 times before grand juries in 2003 and 2004. A final grand jury report said it had no doubt that the cardinal knew about the danger posed by the accused priests and that his actions endangered thousands of children in the archdiocese.
The grand jury also concluded that Lynn had carried out the cardinal's policies exactly as the cardinal directed.
"It should not be surprising to learn documents about child abusing priests were destroyed," said Marci Hamilton, an attorney who has represented victims in many clergy sex abuse cases, including suits against the Philadelphia archdiocese. "That is consistent with the pervasive pattern of secrecy and the rule against scandal."
According to the Philadelphia district attorney, this case represents the first time that U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed the abuses, but an official who stands accused of failing to stop the assaults. Lynn had been responsible from 1992 until 2004 for investigating reports that priests had sexually abused children.
The grand jury alleged that Lynn knowingly allowed dangerous priests to continue in the ministry in roles in which they had access to children, according to the district attorney's office.
A gag order imposed by a Philadelphia judge in the case remains in effect, barring all parties involved in the criminal case from talking to the media.
New South Wales Police has admitted all records of a senior officer's involvement with a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sexual abuse cases have been shredded.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/police-destroyed-church-meeting-notes/4769784
Senior NSW police officer shredded documents from meetings with Catholic Church officialsBy Suzie Smith, ABCUpdated June 21, 2013, 12:01 pm
New South Wales Police has admitted all records of a senior officer's involvement with a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sexual abuse cases have been shredded.
This includes briefing papers and all documentation over a five-year period from 1998 to 2003.
The revelations come from Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained by the ABC's Lateline program.
The top level group established by the Catholic Church's bishops is known as the Professional Standards Resource Group (PSRG).
It was created in 1997 in response to the Wood Royal Commission into the police and paedophilia, and its key function was to advise the church on specific cases involving clergy and others.
Earlier this year, a NSW Police spokesman told Lateline all the information provided by the church to the serving officer was anonymous.
The , allegedly at the request of victims who the church said did not want police involvement.
The documents revealed on Lateline were lodged by NSW Greens MLC, David Shoebridge.
They reveal that Inspector Beth Cullen, who was then a senior sergeant with the Sex Crimes Unit, shredded all documents pertaining to her role with the PSRG from 1998 to 2003.
The letter from the NSW Police that accompanied the FOI documents reads:
"Det Acting Superintendent Linda Howlett of the Sex Crimes Squad had advised the documents concerning the PSRG meetings were confidential and maintained by the Professional Standards Office of the Catholic Church.
"Inspector Beth Cullen, the NSW Police representative on the PSRG, shredded hard copies of meeting material after each meeting.
"Furthermore Inspector Cullen did not keep any documentation in relation to her work on the PSRG."
Mr Shoebridge says there appears to be no "paper trail" of how and why this police officer was required to shred the documents.
"We need all the documents produced, and in the absence of documents, we need the police explaining to the public about how they went about destroying these documents' evidence of crime," he told Lateline.
"No police officer should be involved in internal church investigations about crimes. When there is a crime it should be investigated by police."
Shredding documents 'unusual, extraordinary'
The state's former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Nicholas Cowdery QC, also has serious concerns.
"It is quite extraordinary because my experience has been that official police action is backed up by documents, reports and all the relevant material assembled during the official police activity," he said.
"So for someone involved in such activity to shred documents like this I think it quite unusual and indeed extraordinary.
"There is something about shredding documents - it is to put the documents out of reach, but in the mind of the person doing it, to shred documents is to destroy them and to make them unavailable for others."
He says he cannot think of a time when it would be necessary or appropriate for a serving police officer to shred documents of their role on a civilian body.
"No, I can't accept to destroy evidence - which is what it amounts to - evidence of what happened, so that the person that was involved can't refer back to the documentary evidence," he said.
"So that person's superiors can't have access to a contemporaneous record that was made or preparatory documents - or documents that might have been provided by way of briefing before the meeting was organised - all that has gone.
"I have sat on numerous committees and bodies with serving police officers who were there by reason of their position in the police force, they always make comprehensive notes of what is going on, they prepare reports for their superiors, they have records they can refer back to, if there is any uncertainty or confusion about what happened, it is to protect the officer as well as the institution."
NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher has written to the Police Commissioner's office asking for an urgent briefing on the matter.
Cooperation between church and police needs scrutiny
Mr Cowdery says the Police Minister must reveal to the public the exact nature of the cooperation between the Catholic Church and NSW Police.
"It is important... It is the case of the employer deciding what to do with the employee, that employee having been discovered to have committed serious criminal offences in some cases," Mr Cowdery told Lateline.
"It may be that the employer wanted to take action just short of criminal prosecution, but the employer in that case would have to be held accountable for that decision and for that conduct as well, otherwise you might get the situation that the senior people making the decision, in relation to the priests and others, might be guilty of the offence of concealing a serious offence, of deliberately covering up an offence.
"If there was a possibility of that happening I guess one of the ways to make the prosecution for that offence more difficult would be to remove any evidence of what was discussed at the meetings."
The director of the Professional Standards Office (PSO) of the Catholic Church, Michael Salmon, says it was the common procedure of the meetings that everyone returned the documents to the PSO.
He told Lateline this was to ensure confidential matters were not made public.
"I understand that the members of the group had decided that confidential and sensitive briefing papers would be returned to the Professional Standards Office following meetings. This continues to be the practice," Mr Salmon said in a statement to Lateline.
"I am not aware of members personally shredding briefing documents, but I assume from time to time they may have done so if unable to return them promptly to the Professional Standards Office.
"Briefing papers from members of the group returned to the PSO are not retained as they do not form part of the formal record of meetings."
'It gives rise to suspicion'
But Mr Cowdery says it is concerning that the Catholic Church is the only body that retains the minutes of these meetings.
"It is pretty extraordinary that only one party to a multi-party arrangement should retain records of what happened," he said.
"Now it leaves open the suspicion that those records could be destroyed or manipulated in some way, could be selectively used to demonstrate particular consequences and outcomes.
"It gives rise to suspicion where a full explanation might dispel any suspicion and put everything on a proper course, but we don't know because the documents have not been released."
A spokesperson from the NSW Police released this statement tonight:
"Original documentation concerning the meetings was confidential and maintained by the NSW Professional Standards Office of the Catholic Church.
"The only material that was shredded were copies of that original documentation, which had been circulated to members of the Church's NSW Professional Standards Resource Group prior to each meeting.
"The circumstances surrounding the appointment of representatives from the NSW Police Force to the Catholic Church's NSW Professional Standards Resource Group and the manner in which that group operated will be considered by the Special Commission of Inquiry.
"NSW Police Force will continue to provide full cooperation and assistance to this inquiry.Mr Shoebridge has now referred all the documents to the federal royal commission and the special commission of inquiry in NSW.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-21/nsw-police-officer-accused-of-shredding-documents/4770036?section=nsw
NSW police officer accused of shredding documents on child sexual abuse
Updated Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:12am AEST
The Special Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter region is now examining whether police destroyed crucial evidence relating to abuse by Catholic clergy. A Lateline investigation has found a senior NSW police officer was part of a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sex abuse cases and attended monthly meetings. And over a five year period the police officer shredded all documents and records of those monthly meetings. There are now questions about how a serving police officer came to be sitting on an internal church committee, that discussed child sexual abuse and under what circumstances that officer shredded the records.