The fallout from the recent Pink Dot event continued as civil
activist Vincent Wijeysingha has publicly rejected a request from the Catholic
Church to file an official report on an alleged molest attempt by a Catholic priest.
In a Facebook note published on 23 June, the 44-year-old
former politician revealed that when he was 15, he came into "unfortunate
contact with a priest who would engage me in play wrestling and attempt to
touch my crotch in the process”. The Church has responded by asking Mr. Wijeysingha
to either file a police report or a complaint with an internal church body
which can investigate the case.
Mr. Wijeysingha has rejected the request saying “I have no
confidence in church agencies.”
I have to say I am very disappointed by Mr. Wijeysingha stance
on this. He was the one who brought up the issue, alleging the abuse, but now that
the Church responded, he is running away from the issue. Now for those of you
accepting his excuse of having no confidence in church agencies, then how about
making a police report! If you read the response from the Church, they gave Mr.
Wijeysingha two choices; work with them or go to the police. He chose neither.
To say this was a bad decision is an understatement. This is
a very serious allegation, and since he was the one who brought it up, Mr.
Wijeysingha must file a police report. Failing to do so would destroy not just
his reputation but that of the Pink Dot movement as well.
Like it or not, they are joined together now on this issue.
So Mr. Wijeysingha must file a police report; if not for himself, then so it for
the Pink Dot movement.
3 comments:
Police is unlikely to act in such old cases, even in rape or first degree sexual assault. See Aware FAQ.
It will be a case of one person's word against another. In this situation, it is a matter of who is more convincing in his story, even if the story is a lie. I really don't see any real resolution of the matter. The only possibility of a resolution is if the priest concerned was a serial abuser and there are others who are willing to come up publicly to accuse him. It can be very difficult for these people to come up as they would probably have moved on and will not want to dredged up a past that can cause anguish to those close to around him at present.
Whether the police will act (or not) is something they will decide AFTER a report is filed. If you don't file, for sure they can do nothing! File a report and let the police decide.
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