Church and BBC clash over sex abuse insurance claim

THE Catholic Church and BBC Radio Scotland have clashed over claims of a secret fund set up to pay compensation, to victims of sexual abuse by priests. The row marked a new low in relations between the media and Scottish church leaders, already strained after the handling of the Bishop Roderick Wright affair. Leading clergy said a BBC Radio Scotland report claiming that the church used a Channel Islands based insurance company to pay out compensation to victims was inaccurate, and criticised the BBC for its handling of the story.

They insisted that the Catholic National Mutual fund was simply a standard employers' liability insurance policy.

The church in Scotland also criticised the way the BBC approached it for a response to the story, claiming the BBC gave it just two hours to respond. It released the text of a letter written by the church, yesterday to BBC Scotland, which began: "The Catholic Church in Scotland will not respond to the whimsical needs of the media. We will not participate in media games," said the letter from Father Tom Connelly, spokesman for the church in Scotland.

But a BBC Scotland spokesman said: "We stand by our story 100 per cent. In the early 1990s, Catholic National Mutual offered specific liability cover to shareholders on payment of additional premiums, specifically to cover physical and sex abuse claims. "Our story clearly indicates that the Catholic Church is insured for this contingency."

And, he added: "Effectively a fund does exist - it is a fund triggered by a policy against which a claim is made." The BBC said Catholic National Mutual had handled compensation claims since the early 1990s. But church spokesmen in England and Scotland said that Catholic National Mutual was an insurance company set up in 1979, based in Guernsey for cost reasons, which handled property and liability insurance, and provided employers' and public liability cover for diocesan trustees. The Catholic Media Office in London said in a statement: "The policy has standard commercial wording and there is no exclusion of any claim against the Trustees arising out of sexual abuse."

A statement from the church in Scotland said that as far as an individual abuser was concerned, abuse was a "criminal act" and public liability cover would provide no protection.

The Irish Times - Friday, October 04, 1996

© PA

Paedophile priest given access to youths, say victims

The "informal" inquiry into the sexual abuse of young people in the south east arises from claims that state agencies placed vulnerable youths in the control of a child-abusing priest and then ignored their complaints - By JIM CUSACK, Security Correspondent

THE abuse victim at the centre of the controversy over the state authorities' alleged failure to protect vulnerable children from paedophiles is now aged 32 and is himself a low level abuser. He has been in and out of orphanages and hostels since he was four, when his father was convicted of incestuously assaulting his sisters. It was also known at the time of his father's conviction that he was sexually abusing his son. However, no charges were brought in relation to this.

The father received a suspended sentence for abusing his daughters, who were taken into care. But the father continued to have access to his son and was able to take him from institutions for the sole purpose of abusing him. Professionals acquainted with the case describe the abuse inflicted on the boy by his father as "horrific". At the time, the family had been living in Dublin, although the parents later moved to Waterford, where they had relatives. The father, an alcoholic, died four years ago and the mother is now in a psychiatric institution.

During the 1970s, the boy passed through a series of Eastern Health Board institutions in Dublin, where he recalls being abused in different institutions by one priest, a member of a religious order who might be a priest or a brother and by one lay social worker. As a boy, the victim spent periods in many of the State's orphanages and residential care institutions, including some which have since been at the centre of abuse allegations from other sources.

Although the victim is said to suffer from several psychological problems, brought on by a lifetime of abuse, professionals say he has remarkable recall and does not have a low IQ. In 1985, he was in a state run hostel in the south east and on probation for minor offences, not sexually related. A Co Kilkenny priest, now serving eight years for serious sexual offences against boys, called frequently at the institution with the purpose of abusing boys.

Eventually, the State ceded control of the victim to the priest in 1985, and he brought him to his house, where he carried out rape and other abuse of the young man for 10 years. During this time, the young man lived mainly in a caravan at the bottom of the priest's garden. In 1994, the then 30 year old man was arrested after making indecent approaches to young boys in a park in Kilkenny town. He was charged with indecent behaviour and assault. It is accepted by gardai and the State that the assault was on the lower end of sexual offences and consisted mainly of fondling two boys without trying to remove their clothes.

During questioning by gardai, the man gave a detailed account of the prolonged sexual abuse he had suffered in the south east, including his time in state institutions and with the priest. (The priest cannot be named because the courts have directed it would be contempt to do so, citing reasons of confidentiality of victims.) The man's accounts were so detailed, including the names of other youths abused by the priest, that investigations were started and the priest was eventually arrested and questioned in late 1994.

Gardai contacted several of the priest's victims and he eventually confessed to his crimes, although it is understood, only after having made attempts to dissuade some victims from giving evidence against him. He was sentenced earlier this year after a brief court appearance. Statements in the case, which did not come out in court, suggested the priest had been allowed liberal access to youths in state institutions, including at least one probation hostel, and St Patrick's Institution for juvenile offenders in Dublin.

There are suspicions that from the late 1980s, authorities in the south east may have suspected the victim in this case was at risk while in the care of the priest.

The second source of the allegations in the case is a slightly younger man, now serving a jail sentence for a violent, non-sexual assault on his common law wife's four year old son. This man has made repeated complaints that the priest was also allowed to abuse him while he was in a state run institution in the south east. He also maintains that complaints about the abuse were ignored over a long period. It is not clear what approach to the complaints the State is adopting as the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, has directed that a retired judge, Mr William O'Connell wife is understood to be operating from a room in Clonmel Courthouse carry out an "informal" examination of the allegations. No terms of reference were available yesterday.

It was not clear yesterday if Mr O'Connell will pursue other victims of the priest, who appears to have had access to large numbers of youths, mostly orphans and offenders who had no homes during a long period.

One of the main sources of local concern about the affair is that, after an initial amount of interest by the church authorities, there appears to be little state or Catholic Church support for the priest's victims. The 32 year old man at the centre of the allegations is being kept in St Canice's Psychiatric Hospital in Kilkenny, although the authorities acknowledge he does not suffer from a psychiatric illness. He is being chemically sedated with prozac, valium and a drug to suppress sex drive. The Circuit Court has refused to imprison the man and has criticised the South Eastern Health Board's inability to place the man in a suitable caring hostel. The board, at its last monthly meeting, heard it would cost £700,000 to complete and staff a suitable hostel for people with such problems.

Last week, the man reported that he had been sexually assaulted by another of the patients in St Canice's. This is being investigated by gardai.

© The Irish Times - Wednesday, September 18, 1996

New office to deal with sex abuse claims is suggested

COLM KEENA Writes

A NEW office with a central role in the investigation of child abuse allegations has been suggested by the Catholic body, the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace. ICPJ, in a response to the Department document on the mandatory reporting of child abuse, Putting Children First, concludes that not enough is known about the issue to decide for or against mandatory reporting. In this it differs from the 1989 Law Reform Commission conclusion that mandatory reporting "may on balance do more good than harm".

The ICJP believes a "number of tensions" exist in reporting and investigating child abuse, as a result of the involvement of different agencies and government departments, the divergent therapeutic and investigatory functions of the health boards and the possibility of different approaches by health boards. It suggests consideration be given to establishing an office, which would take over the existing functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to child abuse allegations.

"Whereas the function of the DPP is primarily to vindicate the public interest in deciding whether prosecutions should be brought, a new office could be given the additional right and responsibility to take into account the best interests of the child."

Such an office could also be a focal point for complaints and appeals from those affected by unfounded or unproven suspicions. It could be notified of all reports and allegations, foster a standardised approach to investigations, encourage further co-ordination between gardai and health boards, and promote good practice. "Not enough is known at present about the incidence of child abuse, the rate of substantiation of reports, and about the injury caused by mistaken, ill-founded or malicious reports of abuse, to be able to balance the pros and cons of mandatory versus non mandatory reporting from the perspective both of the human rights of those affected by unsubstantiated reports and the best interests of the child," the group concludes.

The ICJP submission points out that other groups are responding to other questions, and concentrates its comment on human rights safeguards and due process in the investigatory process. Between 1986 and 1995, reports of child abuse of all types increased fivefold, and confirmed cases of all types of abuse, in the aggregate, has more or less kept pace.

Given this rise, in the absence of a mandatory reporting obligation, "it is difficult to judge whether introducing such a law now . . . would effect a significant increase in the reporting of substantiated cases. It is difficult to discern any significant obstacles remaining to maximising reporting and disclosure which a reporting law would be demonstrably effective in addressing."

The group said there were about 5,000 reports of child abuse received last year, of which about 3,500 were non-confirmed. Even if only 5 to 10 per cent of these were "without foundation", as against "unproven/unprovable", it would still represent some 175-350 cases annually. The social repercussions for someone accused of child abuse "are likely to be severe, even on occasion savage", the lCJP point out.

With child sex abuse cases, the number of confirmed cases has risen by a smaller factor than with child abuse overall. "We understand that possibly four out of every five cases of child sexual abuse currently being reported involve adult complainants ranging from their early 20s to their 50s".

© The Irish Times Wednesday, July 24, 1996

Inquiry on Letterfrack abuse claims

By KEVIN O'SULLIVAN

AN investigation has begun into allegations of child sexual and physical abuse against four Christian Brothers who were based at the former industrial school at Letterfrack, Co Galway.

It follows 23 complaints by former residents at St Joseph's Industrial School in Salthill, Galway, of sexual and physical abuse at the facility which was also run by Christian Brothers, the Garda confirmed yesterday.

"The allegations relate to the late 1960s and early 1970s and so far two former pupils have made statements to the Garda complaining of being abused by Christian Brothers. At this point we are only at an early stage of our investigations," said a senior Garda spokesman at Mill Street station in Galway. One of the former pupils had complained of sexual and physical abuse between 1967 and 1969 while another, it is understood, alleged physical abuse between 1972 and 1974 at the Letterfrack school, which was based in northwest Connemara up to the late 1970s.

The Garda have confirmed that four brothers were named in the allegations. The spokesman added that attempts were being made to track down other former pupils who may also have been subjected to either sexual or physical abuse. Many are now living abroad. Gardai have yet to contact the brothers at the centre of the Letterfrack investigation and could not confirm yesterday if any of them were involved in the St Joseph's inquiry.

Many of those who lived at St Joseph's in Salthill spent a number of years at Letterfrack. The latter catered for boys between six and 16 who were orphaned, abandoned, came from broken homes or where the State ruled a parent or parents were unfit to raise children. It also catered for young offenders. The former school building is now being used by community groups. Part of the property is used by University College, Galway for woodturning and cabinet making courses.

The Garda spokesman added that they expected to take further statements from former pupils, residents and staff at the Letterfrack school.

Meanwhile, a decision on whether to bring charges against four brothers who were based at St Joseph's - two of whom have left the order - and are named in statements by former residents is expected from the Director of Public Prosecutions within weeks. The Irish Times understands that over the past week more former pupils at St Joseph's have contacted the Garda to make statements about being abused.

The school in Lower Salthill was demolished this week to make way for housing development.

© The Irish Times - Friday, March 29, 1996

Protection of child above institutional church is right

Kieran McGrath gives a qualified welcome to the bishops' guidelines on clerical sexual abuse

By KIERAN MCGRATH

THERE are many welcome elements in the Irish Catholic Bishops' report on child sex abuse. Prominent among these is the clear declaration that the primary duty of all church officials is the welfare of the child victim of clerical abuse. In the past the church has not always been able to come to terms with this concept and has, on occasion, institution of the church, rather than the individuals adversely affected by abuse. Another welcome development is a clear and unequivocal statement that "where it is known or suspected that a child has been, or is being, sexually abused by a priest or religious the matter should be reported to the civil authorities.

The fact that it has been necessary to spell this out to the various branches of the church is, in itself, an acknowledgment that the obligation to work with civil structures has not always been adhered to. This has been at the heart of some of the mistakes made in the past. In the foreword to the document, Cardinal Cahal Daly, representing the Hierarchy, and Father John Byrne, of the Conference of Religious in Ireland, give a clear apology for abuse by individual clerics. What is absent, however, is an apology for the church's sins of omission perhaps on legal advice.

They are addressed, implicitly, in terms of recommendations for future practice, but there has been no acknowledgment that the proposals spring from past mistakes. After all, since 1987 the rest of the community has been under a moral requirement to report all cases of child sexual abuse to the civil authorities. This obligation has been observed by and large in spite of the absence of an explicit legal requirement to do so. Nine years on, after a very traumatic period in church history, this is now official policy. The proposed structure being set up under this report to deal with allegations (delegates, support persons, advisers for the alleged abusers and advisory bodies for bishops) while containing useful elements appear at first glance to be unnecessarily bureaucratic.

Child sexual abuse is a complex issue. The child protection system itself is also complicated. While obviously the church authorities need a mechanism to deal internally with abuse issues, from the point of view of the children and families whom it is meant to serve, the simpler the mechanism the better. To add another layer of people and roles above and beyond that which is already in place should only be done if it is unavoidable.

I see some overlap, for example, in the mind of the families, between the roles of the proposed support person and that of the health board social worker. It is unfortunate, in this regard, that a practising child protection 5 social worker was not asked to join the committee. Many families are so angry with the church that they may want as little contact as possible with church officials. Unless it is made clear how the roles of health board social workers and ecclesiastical support persons are to be coordinated, confusion is quite possible.

It is proving difficult to coordinate the services provided by the health boards, Garda and voluntary bodies. To add another set of roles has the potential to make the picture even more complex. Another related recommendation of the committee that could cause confusion is the suggestion that each diocese and religious congregation should develop its own set of procedures and protocols, using this new set as a guide. This seems an unnecessarily awkward way of going about things. The guidelines issued by the Department of Health have been hugely successful. These are now affirmed by the bishops' document and there should be no need for each congregation to develop its own individual set.

One of the thorny questions not addressed by the Bishops' Advisory Committee is that of financial compensation for victims of clerical abuse. While one can argue that a set of procedural guidelines is not the place to deal with such an issue, the question of compensation will not go away. The church's official line on this is that the giving of financial compensation is purely a matter for the individual perpetrator. However, abuse does not occur in a vacuum and, in some cases, the issue of negligence on the part of bishops or other officials must be taken into account.

In the US huge settlements have been paid to victims and their families. Indeed, it was the financial strain this put on the US church that forced it to develop a better pastoral response. As far back as 1990, I predicted in this newspaper that exactly the same issues would arise here, and already we know that several large settlements have been made by individual abusers, in some instances with official backing from the church. Overall, this set of guideline's constitutes a welcome step forward in dealing with clerical sexual abuse. In spite of weaknesses, they do represent a sort of child protection Rubicon from which the church can never retreat into an institutional model of dealing with this problem.

© The Irish Times - Wednesday, January 31, 1996