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Chapter 4 — Greenmount

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Sexual abuse

133

Br Carlito recalled the man as a pupil, although he had not taught him. He said that he had been good to him and that he couldn’t remember any abuse taking place.

134

Br Carlito continued: I am very surprised as I was extra good to him. I even gave him money now and then ... I gave him £2 or £3 pounds now and then. I even sent him money after I left ... but I have not seen or heard from him since. Why did he wait so long? I cannot remember interfering with him.

135

When it was explained to him that such a time lapse in coming forward was common, that people felt ashamed and guilty about what had happened, and that it took a lot of courage to tell their story, Br Carlito said ‘If I did it to him I must be inclined to do it to others’.

136

When asked whether he remembered feeling attracted to do this with boys, he replied ‘I can’t remember this attraction’.

137

He said that the boy could have been in his room, but not for that purpose. Br Carlito said that he was ‘flabbergasted and dumbfounded. This knocks me back altogether. There is nothing for me now but Ahadoe [graveyard] and the sooner the better. I can now understand how easy suicide is’.

138

Br Hilario met with Br Carlito a few days later, when Br Carlito made a statement maintaining: I am not saying it did not take place but I have no recollection of it happening. I think it is better for all concerned if I don’t deny it completely.

139

In 1978, the parent of a child at a national school made a complaint that Br Carlito had interfered with her child. Br Carlito was working as an assistant teacher in the School at the time. The Committee has not seen any documentary material in relation to this complaint. However, it is clear from the Synopsis of his Service History provided by the Department of Education that Br Carlito remained in the School until he was transferred in 1979. The mid-1990s

140

In the mid-1990s, the Gardaí questioned Br Carlito in relation to an allegation that he had sexually interfered with a three-and-a-half-year-old boy on a number of different occasions.

141

The child’s mother said that she took her son to a doctor as a result of the abuse.

142

Br Carlito made a statement to the Gardaí and told his superiors of the allegation. The matter was immediately reported to the Provincial, Br Amador,31 who dispatched the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Child Sexual Abuse, Br Manuel,32 to interview Br Carlito. Br Manuel reported: He denied all the allegations and declared that there was no truth in any of them. He had no recollection of the child ever been in the house but he was certain that he never sexually interfered with him or any other child or youth who may have entered the house for the purpose of receiving musical tuition from him. He had always been careful to give tuition to groups and never to individuals and his students were always in the older age group of 10–14 years. He could not comprehend how anyone could accuse him of the offence and he knew of no one who would want to frame him.

143

The Provincial’s diary states: Later that evening I phoned Br Manuel to inquire of his findings and he felt there may be some grounds for concern but had serious doubts.

144

The Provincial consulted a member of the Conference of Religious in Ireland and decided to move Br Carlito ‘lest his presence ... further aggravate any possible hurt to the alleged victim and family’.

145

Br Amador’s diary referred to a meeting with the Gardaí: I have only one note of that meeting which is a comment by Sgt. ... to the effect that a ‘child of three and a half does not concoct such stories’. He asked if there were any other such allegations against Br Carlito and I said I was not aware of any as otherwise I would not have posted him [to the School].

146

The Presentation Brothers engaged solicitors to act for Br Carlito. One month later, the principal in the firm wrote to Br Amador informing him of recent developments: Three children from the locality have alleged that they have been sexually interfered with. All three have been medically examined and two of the three have been physically interfered with – they have been buggered. One of these two children ... has identified Br Carlito as having interfered with him ... Brother Carlito is not known personally to me. His denials of the matter appear totally genuine. I very much doubt if, at 79 years of age, he should suddenly develop tendencies of this nature ...

147

Br Carlito was not prosecuted. However, it is clear from the above that neither the Gardaí nor Br Carlito’s solicitor were aware of the previous allegations which had been made against Br Carlito in Greenmount and which had led to his resignation from the School.


Footnotes
  1. Dermot Keogh, ‘St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, Cork’ (Report prepared for the Presentation Brothers, May 2001 and submitted to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 19 May 2004), pp 187–188.
  2. For the greater glory of God.
  3. Fratrium Presentionis Mariae.
  4. Keogh, p 54.
  5. Keogh, p 57.
  6. Cork Examiner, 28 March 1874, cited in Dermot Keogh, ‘St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, Cork’ May 2001.
  7. Cork Examiner, 30 March 1874, cited by Keogh, May 2001, p 41.
  8. Cork Examiner, 30 March 1874, cited by Keogh, May 2001, pp 41–2.
  9. Cork Examiner, 24 March 1874.
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  13. Report on Reformatory and Industrial Schools, 1936.
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