Chapter 13 — Special needs schools and residential services

Sexual abuse

Six (6) male witnesses reported that violence was a component of the sexual abuse. They were either beaten before they were abused or sexually violated as they were being beaten. Witnesses reported being subjected to extreme forms of physical violence, including having their heads held under water, being bound and gagged and otherwise restrained while being sexually assaulted and being beaten with leather straps on their bare bottom prior to being sexually assaulted. Two (2) of the six witnesses reported being physically and sexually assaulted by ‘gangs’ of co-residents.

A female witness reported being sexually abused by the father in a ‘holiday’ family to whom she was regularly sent from the special needs facility for many years. The witness believed that reports of abuse had been made in relation to this man prior to her being sent to the family. She did not understand what was happening, as she did not know what sexual abuse was. She had no family or other visitors and nobody to whom she could confide about her experiences at the time.

Three (3) male witnesses reported different forms of non-contact sexual abuse including being shown pornographic photographs, being photographed while naked and being stared at by religious care staff supervising showers and swimming activities.

Witnesses reported being forced to endure and comply with sexual abuse through threats of violence, isolation from their peers, deprivation of family visits and being threatened that they would be reported to authority figures. Witnesses also reported being subjected to various bribes and inducements, including money, cigarettes, sweets and alcohol: Another Brother ...(X)... (teacher)... he used to bring a white bag with scones in it from the Brothers’ kitchen to our rooms and he would give the scones to the children who would let him feel their legs and touch them. ... He would examine their essays, check their spellings. ... He would check us all out closely and while he was doing that he would be sitting quite close to us and feeling our legs, at that stage I was quite innocent. • One ...(Br X)... didn’t teach in class, he would look after pupils, he was a big man. ... On the day before I left I asked him for ...a book... he told me to go upstairs. He suggested he would go to the room where he kept his books, but he took me to his bedroom and he closed the door and I got a fright. ... He pushed me over onto his bed, he was wearing his habit. I was trying to resist, I could see his face, he was really red in the face. ... I couldn’t feel his private parts because he had his habit on and that was ok. ... (witness described molestation)... .Afterwards he gave me a bar of chocolate and told me to keep quiet about it, I was very shocked.

Two (2) male witnesses from one facility reported that male religious staff who were sexually abusive would select them and other residents to accompany them on outings to town where they were taken into pubs and given alcohol. One witness reported being taken by a Brother to a pub instead of the cinema and returning to the cinema before the film finished. This Brother was reported to have sexually abused the witness on a regular basis over a three-to four-year period.

One witness named a man by whom he was sexually abused. He was a member of the public who had access to the grounds of the intellectual disability service, and who befriended the witness in the course of his activities there: He ...(X)... asked me to meet him one night outside. ... I got out the window and I met him down the way, he came out in his car and he made sure there was nobody looking and he asked me to get in. He was doing his usual thing on the way across ... (touching witness).... I thought he was bringing me home but we ended up in a Bed and Breakfast. ... By that stage I knew what he was doing was wrong. He took my clothes off ... he just did what he wanted to do to me ... (witness described anal penetration).... He said if I ever told anybody he’d get me, he’d know where I was. ... He left me home to my parents’ place, they were waiting outside the door, he walked up and said “I found your son, he was walking the streets, I picked him up”. ... He never told them anything about what he’d done. ... (Witness never saw abuser again)....

The individuals identified as sexually abusive came from a wider range of occupations both within and outside the institutions, than those reported as physically abusive, and almost half of those reported as sexually abusive were co-residents.

There were 28 staff, 26 male and two female, identified by witnesses as being sexually abusive, including 19 who were named. Seventeen (17) of the named staff members were male and two were female. Thirteen (13) of those named were religious staff and six were lay care staff and ancillary workers. One male religious staff member was specifically described as the person in charge. The other religious staff were described as being in care roles at the time of the abuse although their assigned roles were not always clear to the witnesses.

There were a further nine reports of sexual abuse by religious and lay staff where the reported abusers were not identified by name. They were described by their role as Brothers, night watchmen and care staff. It is possible that there is some overlap between those staff who were identified by name and those who were not named.

Two (2) Brothers were identified by name as sexually abusive by six separate witnesses and three other Brothers were each identified by name by two separate witnesses. A further 14 other religious and lay staff were each the subject of single reports of sexual abuse.

The following table lists the number of named and unnamed sexual abusers, by their reported position:

Position of reported sexual abusers	Males	Females
Religious
- Authority figure	1	0
- Care staff	16	0
- Teacher	1	0
- Ancillary workers	1	0
- External clergy	1	0
Lay
- Care staff	1	1
- Ancillary worker	6	1
Visiting professional	1	0
Weekend or holiday placement carer	1	0
Volunteer worker	1	0
General public	1	0
Co-resident	23	4
Total	54	6

Twelve (12) witnesses identified 16 co-residents by name as sexually abusive. One co-resident was identified by name by three witnesses. There were a further 11 reports of sexual abuse by co-residents who were not named. In five instances witnesses reported being frequently sexually abused by co-residents over a period of years. As with staff members, there may be some overlap between those co-residents who were named as abusers and those who were not specifically named.

Those reported as sexually abusive included three groups of male co-residents who were described as threatening and physically intimidating in addition to being sexually abusive. Two (2) witnesses described being assaulted by groups of co-residents who restrained them and subjected them to penetration by objects. As witness information regarding the precise numbers of abusive co-residents is incomplete the numbers reported above could be considered an under-representation.

In addition to staff members and co-residents who were reported as sexual abusers there were five witness reports of sexual abuse being perpetrated by the following male adults who were external to the institution: a visiting GP, a chaplain, a father in a ‘holiday’ family, a male member of the public, and a volunteer worker who took residents out to the cinema. There was a man ... (member of the public)... he used to watch me, he was always a bit of a loner. ... He came across me one day when I was alone and he invited me into ... (the)... shed and he started touching me. It happened on 3 occasions. He wasn’t part of the staff but he used to use the facilities. To begin with he used to just touch me, then he removed my clothes. ... There was a dirty mattress and he pushed me down and he got on top of me, he was pushing himself up and down on top of me, he had his clothes off. I didn’t really understand what he was doing. • When I was taken out... (by holiday family)... I was abused, I was sexually abused, it was a man... (father in holiday family).... I was sent out nearly every weekend and holidays and it went on for years and years of my life...distressed...I can’t get over it, it just gets to me. I was 7 years of age.

Neglect

Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.7 This section summarises witness accounts of general neglect. Descriptions of neglect refer to all aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and welfare of the witnesses. It also describes other forms of neglect that are regarded as having a negative impact on the individual’s emotional health and development, for example failure to protect from harm, to educate and to adequately supervise.