The Hague, Netherlands - The head of a Dutch inquiry into child abuse in the Catholic church school system says yearly complaints are up 100-fold since allegations emerged of worldwide abuse.
Wim Deetman said Thursday that between 1995 and 2009 an average of 20 people each year complained to the Catholic organization Help and Law that they had been abused, but in the past year 2,000 people made such allegations.
Deetman - who was asked by the Dutch Catholics Bishops Conference to begin the independent Deetman Inquiry in March - said Help and Law had been swamped by the number of complaints.
He said the organization's structure - it was set up to help both victims and perpetrators of abuse - "hindered transparency and accountability."