ACCORDING to an American Catholic priest who treats paedophile clerics, about one third of child sex abusers do not respond well to treatment and remain a risk to children.
Speaking at the ISPCAN conference yesterday, Father Stephen Rossetti, of the Saint Luke Institute, said it was wrong to see paedophilia as "untreatable or intractable". It could be treated successfully.
Father Rossetti, who has treated Irish clerics and advised Irish bishops on how to cope with priests who abuse children, said there had been "tremendous" progress in Ireland.
He said people often get the wrong impression about how the Church has been dealing with the problem.
"People think they are very closed, but they have always been very open with me and very interested in doing the right thing. Sometimes mistakes were made, but professionals have made mistakes as well," said Father Rossetti.
The availability of newer treatments have substantially increased the likelihood of successful treatment, he explained.
"People think of treatment as someone lying on a couch for an hour a week. This type of psychoanalysis does not work with these types of offenders."
Father Rossetti, who has treated several hundred abusers, said he preferred not to use the word "cured" in relation to the treatment. "Cured is a biological term used for viruses. Psychoanalysis does not work that way. People can be successfully treated.
"Recidivist rates vary a lot from treatment to treatment. Some are as high as 50 per cent, others as low as 3 per cent.
He does not recommend that anyone with a history of offending should be allowed back into contact with minors. In many instances, such as the case of a cleric, it is better for them to go back into a supervised environment rather than to disappear into the community without any supervision.
In a case such as that in Belgium, society had an obligation to ensure such an offender "never be let loose in society again".
Clinical assessments of alleged abusers were difficult, particularly when the abuser was in denial. "Poor risk" candidates included those guilty of violent offences, chronic substances abusers and those with low IQ.
He said long term aftercare, including therapy and supervision appeared to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Father Rossetti said that, while there was no residential treatment centre in Ireland, out patient treatment could be effective, although not for serious cases.