Abuse Royal Commission to Examine Paedophile Steven Larkins's Rise to Trusted Roles
By Philippa McDonald and Rebecca Armitage
The actions of one man in particular will be a major focus of the first public hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney this week. The commission is examining how organisations including Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children's Services (HACS) and the then Department of Community Services "responded to information and allegations concerning" Steven 'Skip' Larkins. Larkins, the former chief of HACS, is currently in jail. In August 2012 he was convicted of four counts of possessing child pornography. According to District Court judge Peter Berman, the appeal judge in his matter, Larkins's thumb drive contained 40 pornographic videos. "Some of them involved penetrative sex between boys of between the ages of 10 to 14 and most of the videos involved more than one child," Judge Berman said. "There were a large number of children who have been harmed in the production of the material." Larkins received a further 12 months for forging a document relating to his fitness to work with children and lying in a statutory declaration. He will be eligible for parole in April next year. Last year Larkins also received a three-year good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to committing indecent acts against an 11-year-old boy in 1992 and a 12-year-old boy in 1997. Both victims were Boy Scouts and Larkins was a Scout leader when he committed the crimes. He was suspended from the Scout movement in 2000, but until Larkins faced court last year he had been one of the nation's most senior leaders in the area of child protection. His own biography tell the story: "Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, the CEO of Hunter Aboriginal Children's Services, the Aboriginal community-controlled out-of-home care and child and family welfare service in the Hunter Valley." It goes on: "Mr Larkins was instrumental in the formation of AbSec, the Aboriginal, Child, Family and Community Care State Secretariat (NSW). He has been a teacher and a social worker, and is a national leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children's welfare." Industry colleagues reveal struggle with revelations Some of the nation's most experienced child protection specialists have told the ABC of their horror at finding out about Larkins's activities. "I knew him well. He seemed to be doing a lot of valuable work. It was a complete shock, I'm still struggling with it," one said. "There was nothing that made you feel uncomfortable. There was no reason to think he was doing anything untoward. I was shocked," another said. "Screening processes came in the late '90s, early 2000. We thought they were absolutely essential to reduce the risk to children. "But we knew that they were an imperfect mechanism and we knew it could still be possible to find a way to beat the system." Larkins certainly "beat the system", as evidenced by comments made by Judge Berman as he delivered his judgment on Larkins's appeal for a more lenient sentence. "There was something on his criminal history that he was concerned about and so he produced a clearance document which falsely stated that he had been screened and found suitable for a position involving unsupervised child care," the judge said. Judge Berman rejected a submission from Larkins's lawyer that the prison term should suspended, but did reduce the non-parole period to 15 months in prison. Fairfax has reported that the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (then DOCs) had mistakenly informed Larkins and not his employer that he was deemed "medium risk" and not cleared to work unsupervised with children. As the chief of HACS for 10 years, Larkins was responsible for the care of 19 Aboriginal children. The organisation has now closed its doors. As chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care for three years, Larkins was at the helm of 100 agencies caring for children. "We had no knowledge of the behaviour that was later proven. We stood him down immediately and he resigned shortly afterwards," its chief executive officer Frank Hytten said. "We were shocked to find out, it's been a particularly distressing time. He was personable and concerned about the issues. "We now require people to send us a copy of their police check from their jurisdiction, as well as an Australian Federal Police check and we have to sight them." The actions or lack of action by Scouts Australia will be under intense scrutiny at the royal commission and a whistleblower is expected to give evidence. A look at the Scouts website reveals a statement from chief commissioner Reg Williams outlining how the institution is confronting the issue of abuse. "We have had to deal with appalling incidents of child abuse within our community," the statement said. "These matters sadden me personally, and I join you in being very concerned for the victims who have suffered because of these horrible acts. "We are committed to responding to any and all reports and information on these matters. We will report them directly to the police and child protection authorities. "Because of the nature of these horrible acts, there will be some people in our community who have not spoken out before. We must support these people and encourage them to approach the police." The hearing is expected to take up to two weeks.
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