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Abuse Left Me Feeling 'Dirty', Says Steve Larkins Victim

By Dan Box
The Australian
September 16, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/abuse-left-me-feeling-dirty-says-steve-larkins-victim/story-fngburq5-1226720151156

[with video]

A WITNESS has told the royal commission into child sex abuse how he felt "dirty, belittled and confused" when as a 12-year-old he was sexually assaulted by then Scouts leader Steve "Skip" Larkins.

He is one of three unnamed victims giving evidence at the first public hearing in Sydney today of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. The commission is considering the "case study" of Larkins, a former Scouts leader from the NSW Hunter Valley who was recently convicted of child abuse.

Known as AA, the victim told of the ongoing impact of the experience, which he did not speak about until he was 20.

"I would burst into tears for no reason. Once I was in a car with my mum talking about TAFE and I just started crying."

The abuse happened in Larkins' house.

Another former Scouts leader, Armand Hoitink, told the commission he first became aware of allegations about Larkins' behaviour during the mid-1990s when another adult member of the Scouts said "he was concerned that Steve Larkins might be 'interfering' with children".

"He said the kids called him a 'rock spider' - a term I understood to mean a pedophile," Mr Hoitink told the commission.

When he subsequently reported his concerns about Larkins to police, Mr Hoitink said he was reprimanded by a more senior Scouts official, a claim the commission heard has subsequently been denied.

Larkins himself was able to continue working with children, the commission heard, despite Scouts Australia formally ruling that he had no unsupervised contact with children.

After he was ultimately forced to leave the Scouts, the commission heard, Larkins was employed as general manager of the Hunter Aboriginal Children Services, with responsibility for some of the most vulnerable children in the state.

In 2010, he sent one of these youths a text message saying: "Hey I love you but you should go home tonight so we don't get caught."

Larkins was jailed last year for indecent assault, possessing child abuse material and fraud. He is eligible to be released on parole in April.

Before witnesses were called, the commission heard how despite two decades of complaints against Larkins, he was given parental responsibility over vulnerable Aboriginal children.

The then NSW Department of Community Services in 2003 did not carry out checks to see if Larkins was a suitable person to be principal officer at Hunter Aboriginal Children Services.

Gail Furness, senior counsel assisting the commission, said it was not a regulatory requirement at the time that DOCS carry out such checks because HACS was a designated agency where the Children's Court made orders on parental responsibility for principal officers.

However, while legislation did not mandate the DOCS check, "the Ombudsman was of the view that not doing so was a significant departure from good practice", she said.

Ms Furness outlined how Larkins slipped through checks on his suitability to work with children for more than 10 years, sometimes by falsifying documents.

In opening today's hearing, chief commissioner Peter McClellan said it was apparent that where an organisation lacked an appropriate culture, practices and staff training, there was a risk that sexual abuse would occur.

He also said that in some organisations there were multiple abusers.

"It is reported to us that when it occurs in residential institutions, sexual abuse is almost always accompanied by almost unbelievable levels of physical violence inflicted on the children by the adults who had responsibility for their welfare."

Ms Furness said the commission would hear that HACS employees knew of text messages between Larkins and one witness, including one from the convicted pedophile saying: "Hey I love you but you should go home tonight so we don't get caught."

She said that in July 1997 the mother of one victim reported the abuse to police and it was investigated but not pursued.

The hearing continues.




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