Pell agreed
he was told of a vague allegation of sexual misconduct."The fact that he was informed of it in a 'non-specific' way does not reduce the seriousness of the allegation," the report says, adding that he "ought to have inquired further" about the exact nature of the allegation.
"If the information provided to Bishop Pell was not sufficiently specific, he ought to have requested a fuller explanation …"
The Commission also refused to believe Pell was in the dark about the "real truth" of why a delegation of staff from Holy Family Doveton went with a log of incidents to warn the-then Auxiliary Bishop about Searson's "harassment of children".
"In our view, any of those matters ought to have prompted investigation and action," the Commissioners found.
"Each of those events carries an implication of sexual misconduct. They are all improper …
"Bishop Pell was in a senior position … The staff came as a delegation to him as an Auxiliary Bishop to complain about their employer."Apart from the concerns about children, the teachers said "Father Searson was obstructive and confrontational with staff", prompting Pell to frame the meeting as more of an HR complaint.
But, the Commissioners found, "[Searson] had displayed cruelty to an animal in front of children and shown them a dead body in a coffin. There was a suggestion of sexual impropriety in that Father Searson was using the boys' toilets unnecessarily, even if he had offered an explanation for that conduct.
"[One delegate] told Bishop Pell that Father Searson was mentally unwell and that something needed to be done. These matters, in combination with the prior allegation of sexual misconduct, ought to have indicated to Bishop Pell that Father Searson needed to be stood down."
George Pell oversaw Searson's ultimate removal from Holy Family Doveton, but that was
12 years after the school first became aware he was offending. The delegation from the school representatives to Pell as Auxiliary Bishop was five years into the 12.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-08/george-pell-royal-commission-findings-rev...