Chapter 14 — Children’s Homes

Sexual abuse

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.

A small number of witnesses reported that the violence associated with sexual abuse was so severe that they were helpless and unable to protect themselves. X ...(named volunteer worker)... came with another man every Sunday morning after breakfast. On the first week he selected me for some sort of pretext for punishment, he took off his belt ...and beat me... from head to foot in front of all the others. Then he shut me in a cupboard for half an hour before sending me to the dormitory where he gave me another beating before raping me. This was repeated every Sunday for 12 weeks, and then he moved on to another boy. They came every Sunday for the 3 years I was there.

Nine (9) male witnesses from a small number of Homes reported that religious staff, visiting the dormitory at night, sexually fondled them in their beds. Others described being taken from their dormitory and raped by male lay staff. Witnesses also reported that molestation and inappropriate sexual contact took place in public locations such as cinemas, classrooms and external social venues. At the Christmas party for boys provided by ...(named voluntary organisation)... I was taken to the toilet by a volunteer called ...X.... He masturbated me and gave me 2/6. • He ... (named lay Resident Manager)... would ... distressed... well he used to come to the dormitory, you know, come to your bed at night. He’d say “come out here...”. You’d get out of bed and you would only have a pair of underpants and a vest on you. He would take you out to ... (external building)... and he would start abusing you in different ways, sexual ways. He would make you take off your clothes and do things to you that he shouldn’t be doing ... (witness reported anal penetration, masturbation, fondling and use of violence).... I said I would run away. I tried to stop him, he would beat you very severely with a strap. One time I remember next day I was very sore, I couldn’t walk or nothing, I had to stay in bed, he said I was sick or something.

A total of 43 perpetrators, 34 male and nine female, were identified in evidence to the Committee as having sexually abused 29 witnesses. Men and women described as abusers included named and unnamed religious and lay staff, adult male volunteer workers and visitors, external priests and Brothers, older residents, and others. Thirty one (31) of the reported abusers were identified by name. Witnesses identified another 12 abusers by their position or function either in the Home or in association with the Home. It is possible that there is some overlap between those identified by name and those who were not named. The following Table lists the positions held and the number of reported sexual abusers:

Position of reported sexual abusers	Males	Females
Religious
- Authority figure including Resident Manager	3	2
>- Care staff	2	3
- Teacher	1	0
- Ancillary worker	1	0
- External priest or Brother	4	0
Lay
- Authority figure including Resident Manager	1	0
- Housemaster	2	0
- Care staff	1	2
- Ancillary worker	2	0
Family member	1	0
‘Foster’ or ‘holiday’ placement carer	2	0
Volunteer workers and visitors	8	1
General public	1	0
Ex-resident	2	0
Co-resident	3	1
Total	34	9

Eleven (11) of the reported abusers were religious Brothers or priests and five were religious Sisters. Male volunteer workers were reported to visit the Children’s Homes with the consent and cooperation of staff and management. Five (5) witnesses from one Children’s Home reported nine individuals, including five volunteer workers, as sexually abusive. Among those reported as abusive was a religious Resident Manager of the Home, who was also reported by a number of witnesses as physically abusive.

Nine (9) witnesses reported sexual abuse by both religious and lay care staff. Five (5) religious staff in positions of authority were reported as abusers, including one religious Resident Manager who was the subject of three witnesses’ reports of sexual abuse. One lay care worker was reported by two witnesses to have sexually abused them, progressing from molestation to anal penetration. My second key worker ... named lay care worker... started to abuse me from an early age. He first brought me to the ... named place... room where younger boys were only allowed go accompanied by a staff member. He locked the door and raped me, he abused me in the dormitory where other boys slept, in disused rooms and in a ...named place... where staff could take boys for treats. The abuse happened about 3 times a week, whenever he was on duty, over a year and half.

Three (3) witnesses, one male and two female, reported being abused by female religious staff. The male witness described being aggressively fondled and forced to fondle his abuser. He reported that he was threatened that he would go to hell if he disclosed that he was being abused. A female witness described being beaten and then fondled by a female religious in a position of authority within the Home. Another female witness reported being taken out of the Home by a religious Sister and her female friend who sexually molested her.

Witnesses described the practice in three Children’s Homes of male volunteer workers visiting the Homes. They believed these men assisted the Resident Managers or those in charge by providing help with homework, recreational activities and transport. Some were reported to be constant visitors at weekends and were welcomed by residents because they provided opportunities for contact outside the Home, taking residents to the cinema, swimming and on other outings. Other volunteer workers were reported to be involved on an occasional basis providing children’s parties, holidays and weekends away from the institution. Two (2) volunteer workers were reported to provide accommodation and support during the witnesses’ transition to independent living.

The Committee heard evidence from nine witnesses, eight male and one female, of being sexually abused by eight male volunteer workers, seven of whom were named. One volunteer worker was the subject of two reports of sexual abuse. Witnesses described the male abusers as providing inducements such as outings from the Home, and promises of accommodation and employment following discharge. Two men who were regular visitors to the Home fondled me, they did it to other boys, we all learned to avoid them. One of these men, a constant nightly visitor to help with homework, took me home. He offered me a roof over my head when I left, I had nowhere else to go, there followed sexual abuse ... (rape)... over years.... • There was a visitor... (named volunteer worker) ... who used to come and take you out every 3 or 4 weeks, 3 or 4 boys, they...(lay Resident Managers).. would pick you out, all delighted to have an outing. He would make us all one by one pee in a milk bottle and then fondle us and would afterwards give us a sweet each and tell us we were good boys... • (Named volunteer worker) ... a visitor who took boys out at weekends. We would have to share his bed, then he would masturbate me and try to get me to masturbate him back.

Seven (7) witnesses, five male and two female, reported being sexually abused by older co-residents and ex-residents. The abuse described included rape and masturbation. Ex-residents were reported to return to one Children’s Home where they had unsupervised access overnight to all areas of the Home.

Three (3) female witnesses reported being sexually abused by external priests. Two (2) of the witnesses reported being raped by two named priests when they went to Confession. One witness reported that the abuse continued over a number of years following her discharge from the Home. One male witness was sexually abused by a visiting Brother when he was supervising residents in the absence of the regular staff.