Catholic Church to allow independent Dutch child sex abuse investigation

The Catholic Church is allowing the foundation behind the hotline for child abuse in the church to investigate all cases of sexual abuse that were handled and financially settled in secret. The hotline hopes that these documents will provide supporting evidence for victims who don't have enough in the official complaints procedure, NRC reports. About 250 victims have an authentic story, but lack evidence for their complaint, according to the hotline. The head of the hotline will be given copies of the documents relating to secret mediation and settlements. They will be inspected for supporting evidence and then destroyed. According to NRC, the church financially settled about a third of the abuse cases in secret, which means they formed no part of the official complaints procedure. That is 342 of the 1,045 cases. There is some resistance to the fact that the documents will be destroyed after inspection. Rob van Beeten, the chairman of the foundation that controls the hotline, called it very important that all documents remain accessible for scientific research. Victims organization KLOKK is also advocating for the documents to be kept.