Priests who fail to tell police about suspected child sexual abuse should face criminal charges, even if they learn of abuse during a confidential religious confession, Australia's most powerful investigative authority has recommended.
Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - the nation's highest form of inquiry - recommended that all states and territories in Australia introduce legislation which would make it a criminal offence for people to fail to report child sexual abuse in an institutional setting. Clergy who find out about sexual abuse during a religious confession would not be exempt.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/australian-inquiry-recommends-prosecution-of-priests-for-not-reporting-child-abuse-confessions-802044.html