The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has called for an independent inquiry into why the North Eastern Health Board had not taken action in 1988 to have criminal proceedings taken against a man who had confessed to indecently assaulting a 13 year old girl the previous year.
A statement from the ISPCC said that the offender was left at liberty for six years and was imprisoned only last week for two years for the offences involved.
It repeated its call for the introduction of mandatory reporting of child abuse.