Chapter 7 — Record of abuse (male witnesses)

Sexual abuse

There are some proportional differences between the sexual abuse reports and the combined abuse reports for each discharge period. For example, there were 203 reports of abuse from 177 witnesses discharged prior to 1960, and 43% of those reports were of sexual abuse. By contrast, there were 60 reports of abuse from 50 witnesses discharged in the 1970s of which 62% were reports of sexual abuse.

Witnesses described contact sexual abuse including: inspection of genitalia, kissing, fondling of genitalia, forced masturbation of, and by, an abuser, digital penetration, penetration by objects, oral and anal rape and attempted rape, by individuals and groups. Witnesses also reported several forms of non-contact sexual abuse including detailed interrogation about sexual activity, indecent exposure, inappropriate sexual talk, voyeurism, and forced public nudity. Some witnesses gave accounts of isolated incidents of sexual abuse and others reported being sexually abused on many occasions, over a period of months or years. The Committee developed a classification of the different forms of sexual abuse described by witnesses, which are shown in the following table:

Forms of sexual abuse	Frequency reported	%
Inappropriate fondling and contact	183	32
Forced masturbation of abuser by child	89	16
Use of violence	88	16
Anal rape	68	12
Masturbation of child by abuser	50	9
Oral/genital contact	30	5
Non-contact abuse including voyeurism	25	4
Attempted rape	14	2
Kissing	12	2
Digital penetration	6	1
Total	565*	(100)**

The most frequently described form of sexual abuse was inappropriate fondling of which there were 183 reports. In 50 instances inappropriate fondling was combined with reports of masturbation of the witness by the abuser. Forced masturbation of the abuser by the witness was reported by 89 witnesses, 30 of whom reported being coerced and physically assaulted while being subjected to masturbation and oral/genital contact.

Sixty eight (68) witnesses reported being anally raped. There were a further 14 reports of attempted rape and six reports of digital penetration. Many of these reports were associated with violence, of which there were 88 reports in total, including 23 reports of injuries to genitalia by beating with a leather and kicking.

Reports of non-contact sexual abuse included 15 accounts of witnesses being questioned and interrogated about their sexual activity and knowledge and 10 reports of voyeurism and indecent exposure.

The secretive and isolated nature of sexual abuse was frequently described. Many witnesses reported that the fear of severe punishment and the threat of either them or their siblings being sent to a more restrictive institution inhibited them in both resisting and disclosing sexual abuse. Witnesses further reported that the culture of obeying orders without question, the authority of the abuser and the experience of not being believed and being severely beaten after they reported abuse, rendered them powerless to stop the abuse.

Sexual abuse was reported to have occurred mainly in private and occasionally in the company of other residents and staff members. Witnesses reported being sexually abused in many locations, including: dormitories, sleeping quarters and offices of staff members, cloakrooms, churches, sacristies, classrooms, workshops, kitchens, infirmaries, showers, toilets, outside sheds and farm buildings, fields, recreation areas, motor vehicles, private homes, commercial premises, and other off-site locations. Witnesses stated that particular areas of activity such as kitchens, farmyards, infirmaries and music rooms provided opportunities for staff members to isolate residents without fear of disturbance.

Sexual abuse was also reported to occur off-site when residents were taken out of the institution for holidays, outings or work placements, by individuals who sexually abused them. Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was often preceded by physical violence that they believed was intended as an intimidating threat. Others described receiving special attention and experiencing friendly encounters over periods of time that they welcomed, as many of them experienced no other kindness or affection, an example of which is described below: One night I was lying in bed and I was woke up by ...(Br X)... he said “I’m not going to harm you or anything, don’t be afraid”. At that time I thought he just wanted to chat, I thought it was a normal thing. The next thing he sat on my bed, he said “don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hit you”. The next thing he took hold of my hand, put my hand on his privates, I took my hand away and with that he slapped me, he slapped me quite a few times and I was crying and he left. He came back later, he opened his trousers and took my hand and put it on his privates, out of total fear I obeyed. He instructed me in what to do and that amounted to masturbation and that continued over the time I was there.

Witnesses repeatedly stated that co-residents who had no family contact were the most common victims of sexual abuse. They referred to these co-residents as orphans and ‘conventers’ and many witnesses remarked that they considered themselves lucky not to be selected for sexual abuse. There were 2 different types of boys, the outsiders who had parents and the orphans. The orphans were always on the lookout for danger, learning to survive. They had no one to look out for them. It was a constant struggle to survive, you would make no eye contact, you would keep your eyes down in order to avoid punishment. You were thinking “there’s no way out”. You blamed yourself. • Anytime he got the opportunity he got access, he ...(Br X)... used to masturbate himself over me and make me do the same to him. It stared when I was 10 and a half or 11 and it went on ’til I was 14. He used to swamp me with gifts, sweets, money. He said it was our secret. He stopped me going to my godparents, he was afraid I would tell. It was mainly the orphans who were abused bad, they had no one to turn to. I had no one. I was 2 years there before I ever went out. There was no one to tell.

There were 88 witness reports of sexual abuse and associated physical violence, 15 of these reports related to one School. Many of the reports heard were of witnesses being beaten while their abusers masturbated, or of the witnesses being beaten on their bare buttocks while they were held against the abusers’ genitals. Witnesses described physical abuse perpetrated in the context of sexual abuse as serving to both enforce compliance with the sexual assault and as a means of securing the silence of the witness concerned. Witnesses who reported being sexually abused, including being anally raped, named Brothers about whom the Committee heard a number of reports of sexual abuse: He was a very bad man, a very dirty man, he used to keep me back after school and do things to me, not very nice things. He used to lock the doors and put books up against the window, tell me to take off my clothes. He touched me, made me touch him, then beat me so that I wouldn’t tell anyone. He made me clean up after him. He hurt me very badly, forced himself on me. Then, when you’d go to school next day you’d wonder who is it going to be today? ... Other boys were kept back too. • Br ...X... came and pulled me from my bed into his bedroom, he turned his wireless up to full volume and said “take that nightshirt off, you can scream now as much as you like, you little bastard”. He masturbated himself with his left hand while he was hitting me with his strap.... He just brought the strap down on me and kicked me with his boots on, that is all he was wearing.... He threatened that if I told anyone the same would happen again. • One particular morning he ...(Br X)... put me up against the wall because I was left handed, he put me hands up against the wall like that ...indicated arms stretched above head... he started flogging me with the leather strap. This particular session I lost all control and soiled myself, he took me by the ear straight out, around to the showers. He wanted me to strip off and get into the shower, the water was freezing. ... It’s very hard for me to tell this ... but I want to tell it anyway ... I was crouched down in the corner, he grabbed me by the hair into the cubicle, dragged me up off the floor, on the lats you know, lats for the seats and he buggered me again, and told me to shut up, I was screaming, I was in sheer pain you know. He had done it before in my bed and he made me bleed, he tore the skin you know. It could be once a week and then he mightn’t come near you for a month. It lasted for all the years I was there.

Sexual abuse associated with violence was also reported to be accompanied at times by serious threats of physical harm, including risk to life, for the perceived purpose of instilling fear and enforcing compliance. For example, witnesses reported being threatened that if they ever told anyone what happened to them they would be ‘drowned in the slurry pit’, ‘sent to a worse place’, ‘killed’ or in one instance, ‘cut up and buried in a bag in the bog’. This latter threat was issued by a lay ancillary worker who the witness reported challenged him with a knife.

Witnesses reported being beaten or exposed to harsh treatment by co-residents in advance of sexual abuse episodes and made frequent reports of severe beatings culminating in a violent sexual assault. The damage that they, boys, done to boys was unbelievable, what was going on. They ...(co-residents)... were after beating them so much ... they were beaten and beaten until they done it ...(sexual abuse).... They were beaten into submission.

There were 16 witness accounts of sexual abuse being perpetrated by more than one religious staff simultaneously, generally in association with physical assault. Witnesses described being sexually abused over a period of time by a number of Brothers who also severely physically abused. Some witnesses believed that they were subsequently abused by other Brothers who became aware that they were the victims of ongoing abuse. The reports refer to six separate Schools, with 11 witness reports made in relation to two of those Schools. Sexual abuse associated with severe physical violence involving more than one staff member was generally reported as having occurred at night. Witnesses reported being taken from their beds and brought to staff members’ bedrooms, bathrooms or other areas, where they were abused by two or more Brothers and/or priests.

In relation to one School, four witnesses gave detailed accounts of sexual abuse, including rape in all instances, by two or more Brothers and on one occasion along with an older resident. A witness from the second School, from which there were several reports, described being raped by three Brothers: ‘I was brought to the infirmary...they held me over the bed, they were animals....They penetrated me, I was bleeding’. Another witness reported he was abused twice weekly on particular days by two Brothers in the toilets off the dormitory: One Brother kept watch while the other abused me ...(sexually)... then they changed over. Every time it ended with a severe beating. When I told the priest in Confession, he called me a liar. I never spoke about it again. • I would have to go into his ...(Br X’s)... room every time he wanted. You’d get a hiding if you didn’t, and he’d make me do it ...(masturbate)... to him. One night I didn’t ...(masturbate him)... and there was another Brother there who held me down and they hit me with a hurley and they burst my fingers ...displayed scar....

Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was frequently preceded by the abuser’s attempts to win their trust by expressing concern for their welfare or giving them small treats such as comic books, extra blankets, chocolates or fruit. ‘On your birthday you got a bottle of orange but you would have to ... you had to go up to the Brother and sit on their lap....’ Witnesses also reported being taken away from the School for outings and being sexually abused while they were out. This Brother used to follow the band around, Br ...X... introduced me to him. He wasn’t from our School, he was a fully fledged Brother from another School. He got friendly with me, over friendly you know, he used to take me out. He took me to ...named town... he told them ...(Brothers)... he was going to stay with his sister. He booked us into a hotel, and he touched me and things, rubbing and kissing me, he assaulted me, he did not have anal sex. I did not know anything about sex. I felt I had done something wrong. ... I went to Confession about it and the priest said “don’t worry about it” and he gave me a prayer to say as penance. I thought he would do something about it, you know, that he would put a stop to it, but nothing happened. • Br ...X... he had a kind way with him and you would be kinda looked after, if other Brothers were at you he would have a go at them. ... One day he called me into this little room ... he was saying to me “you are doing very well here, you are really coming along very well”. After a while he said “you are such a good looking boy you know, I have plans for you, we are going on a trip...”.. I thought “Well, he was just being nice”. ... Well after a while he took my hand and he placed it on his private parts you know, so he said to me “don’t be afraid”, things like that and at the same time I was shaking, and as he was talking he kept on rubbing my hand up and down his privates. The next thing was, he was opening his buttons, his trousers, you know ... and he told me to ...crying... take down my trousers ...crying...witness described anal rape....