Father Chris Riley (SFT 29/3/12) made numerous comments regarding child abuse and quotes episodes that have happened in countries outside Australia. It is interesting that he should link the Toulouse, France, shooting of Jewish children to child abuse as that was a case of outright murder.
If he is to include the murder of children as child abuse, then mention should have been made of the murder of Palestinian children killed by the Israeli Defence Force. The toll of children murdered and maimed during the ongoing Palestinian/Israeli conflict runs into the hundreds if not thousands of children.
Also, we must NEVER forget the child victims of pedophile priests. This was an oversight by Fr Riley, but the media often reminds us of this abuse, often going back decades.
Yes, there is child abuse worldwide, but unfortunately, when the perpetrators of such abuse are brought to justice, the punishments meted out to the guilty are not severe enough to deter others from committing future offenses.
The only way child abuse can be stamped out is to terrorise the abusers by STIFF penalties. Have we not heard, “Soft judges make hard criminals”?
Jay Nauss
