Two Catholic charities have taken action amid the ongoing scandal in the voluntary sector, where aid staff have been accused of sexually exploiting the victims of disasters. British charity Cafod has sacked an employee who is accused of sexual misconduct while working for Oxfam in Haiti after the 2011 earthquake. The employee joined Cafod in 2014. The charity received a reference from his most recent employer when he joined, but remained unaware of any allegations against him until contacted by the Times. “We can confirm that the individual has been dismissed,” Cafod said in a statement. “Our review found that there have been no formal complaints of misconduct about the employee during his time at Cafod. “We requested and yesterday received a reference from Oxfam GB Headquarters which confirmed the allegations against him.” The charity said it also reviewed two historical cases of sexual misconduct allegations against its staff. It said the first investigation yielded no evidence to require disciplinary action. The second led to the staff member being dismissed. Separately, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf) has said it has dealt with two cases of alleged sexual abuse of children. Sciaf said that neither of the alleged victims were being aided by the charity at the time. Alistair Dutton, the charity’s director, said: “Sciaf is doing everything we can to minimise the risk of these events and to deal with them appropriately. I won’t tolerate that in any part of our operation.”
12:00 PM
Catholic charities act after abuse allegations
Staff writers

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