Chapter 14 — Children’s Homes

Physical abuse

Sixteen (16) religious staff reported to be physically abusive were understood to be in positions of authority in the Children’s Homes and were given various titles by witnesses including: Resident Manager, Officer in Charge, Brother in Charge, Reverend Mother or as the Head of the orphanage.

Lay care staff, including residential house-parents, were reported to be involved in the everyday living activities in the Homes, and ancillary workers were generally involved in building, maintenance or farm work. One lay care worker described by a witness as ‘the cruelest person’ was reported by two witnesses as constantly beating residents for no reason. Other lay staff reported as physically abusive were teachers, including three school Principals.

A witness reported being beaten by the Resident Manager on both hands with a cane until he was unable to lift his hands. The Resident Manager was also described as regularly hitting children’s heads off the wall.

The Committee heard evidence regarding three Children’s Homes of consistent and severe physical abuse by a small number of named abusers. One male religious staff member was identified by seven witnesses as a perpetrator of severe physical abuse. He was described by witnesses as ‘brutal’ and ‘vicious’. One witness reported ‘He’d beat the living daylights out of you, especially if you had no one to tell’. Physical abuse was constant and worst at night.... (named religious staff X),...slept in the dormitory and used to beat boys for misbehaviour, he used a leather strap and also a strip of rubber.... He was particularly vicious and appeared to gain pleasure from beating boys. I was beaten severely by...named religious staff Y... when I was returned each time after running away following a beating, he would have helpers for the beatings. I saw one boy stand up to... named religious staff Y. I never saw him ... (co-resident)... again. ... Named religious staff Y... beat boys with a leather strap with pieces of lead at the end ... (he also) ... beat boys with a hurling stick and another... unnamed male religious staff ... used catch the boys behind the door in a head lock and beat them with his fist.

Eight (8) female religious and lay staff in one Children’s Home were identified by many witnesses as physically abusive. A number of these staff members were described as particularly harsh in their punishment of residents and some were reported to have immersed residents who wet the bed in cold baths and held them underwater.

Five (5) witnesses, three male and two female, gave accounts of being physically abused by co-residents. Witnesses from one Home reported that older residents took charge of the residents at playtime with, they believed, the consent of staff. This was described as ‘lookout time’ and was reported to be the likely time for sexual and physical abuse.

Sexual abuse

The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person or another person.10 This section presents witness evidence of sexual abuse ranging from contact sexual abuse including molestation, vaginal and anal penetration to non-contact sexual abuse such as voyeurism. Some witnesses provided detailed and disturbing accounts of the sexual abuse they experienced, other accounts were sufficient to clarify the nature and extent of the reported abuse.

Twenty nine (29) witnesses, 20 male and nine female, reported being sexually abused in 15 Children’s Homes. More than half of the male and over one third of the female witnesses who reported abuse in Children’s Homes reported sexual abuse. Two (2) male witnesses each reported sexual abuse in two Homes.

Witnesses made a total of 31 reports of sexual abuse. The frequency of sexual abuse reported by witnesses varied between Children’s Homes as follows: Five (5) Homes were each the subject of between three and five reports, totalling 21 reports. Two (2) Homes were each the subject of two reports, totalling four reports. Eight (8) Homes were each the subject of a single report.

Sexual abuse was reported in combination with physical and emotional abuse and neglect in 30 witness reports.

The Committee heard accounts from some witnesses of sexual abuse as an acute episode of assault while others described chronic abuse involving molestation and penetration over a number of years. A number of witnesses described coercive methods used by adults to physically force witnesses to yield to abuse.

The forms of sexual abuse reported by witnesses included inappropriate fondling, masturbation, oral/genital contact and rape. Witnesses reported the chronic and coercive nature of the sexual abuse they experienced, giving accounts of being forced to comply with sexual molestation in return for money, alcohol, shelter or affection. Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was perpetrated in both public and private areas of the Homes and outside the institutions. Many witnesses reported that sexual abuse occurred in circumstances of restricted access and in isolated situations including the homes of volunteers, basements, boiler rooms, recreation rooms, bathrooms, sacristies, confessionals, garden sheds, and the sleeping quarters of staff members. A small number of witnesses described how people who abused them forced their compliance by means of threats and actual violence. Male witnesses consistently reported that when abused by a person in a position of authority they felt defenceless and powerless to either physically resist or disclose the abuse because of the threat of physical retaliation. The following is the account of one witness: ... I don’t want to go into any great detail ... if you went into ... (recreation room) ... there was a lock on the door and there was nothing you could do. Using a very mild word I would have to say, the very first time he ... (lay care staff) ... raped me ... distressed and crying ....He did threaten me but ... crying ... you just feel like at that age anyway, with the experience ... of not being believed, it was just dismissed ... even if you went to the guards, who would believe you? ... People were very ignorant at that stage....

Of the 29 witnesses who reported sexual abuse in Homes, 19 gave accounts of molestation including masturbation, fondling and oral/genital contact: I have memories of her ...(named female religious staff) ... being on top of me and touching me, I think I was about 3 or 4, she used to say I was her special. She used bring me off with her friend ... a woman friend in the car for a treat. They would stop for a picnic, and they would be touching me, mostly just touching with my clothes half on and half off. She told me when I was about 10 I was no longer special because I ... had 2 figures in my age. I don’t know whether she moved on to someone younger.... • At the age of 9 or 10 years when delivering the priest’s breakfast I was made to stand beside him while he rubbed his hand up and down my leg, later he put his hand inside my pants, I had to stand while he did this waiting for him to tell me to take the covers off the food dishes and dismiss me. I would cry afterwards, a nun saw me cry one day and asked me what was wrong, I told her I didn’t like the priest and was not going into the parlour again and if made to do so I would run away. The nun gave me tea and toast in the kitchen. I do not remember seeing the priest again.

Ten (10) witnesses, seven male and three female, reported being raped while resident in a Children’s Home. They gave accounts of these assaults being perpetrated by staff, peers and others associated with the Homes. In some instances witnesses reported being coerced, threatened and subjected to physical violence in association with being raped. One witness reported multiple episodes of anal rape causing injury. Others stated that they were repeatedly raped over a number of months and believed the assaults stopped when the perpetrator began to abuse a younger resident. It happened a good few times maybe every week or every 10 days, sometimes it would be twice a week, it all depends you know. It just kept going until I was released after a year. Other kids would say ... “it was your turn tonight”, I would not know what they mean like the first 2 weeks I was in there, I would not have a clue what they were talking about. There were little boys, the beds were beside each other there and they would be over at your bed talking and afraid... (saying)... “I hope it’s not me tonight”. Janey, there was nothing you could do for them, on the other hand you were afraid yourself. You knew what they were saying was correct and the same time you would be hoping it wouldn’t be you yourself.... It was the younger fellas that got called out.

A female witness reported being sent by a religious Sister to Confession having been accused of stealing money and sweets. She recounted that the priest, having heard her Confession, undressed her and vaginally and anally raped her, ‘and threatened me never to say ... (anything)... when I went back to the orphanage’. Another witness reported that the visiting chaplain raped and otherwise sexually and physically abused her in the sacristy, confessional, convent grounds, and in the boiler room on many occasions over a period of four years.