Salvation Army Whistleblowers Dismissed from Indooroopilly, Qld, Home for Reporting Alleged Abuse, Royal Commission Hears

By Thomas Oriti and Emily Bourke
ABC News
February 3, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-03/salvation-army-whistleblowers-dismissed-for-reporting-abuse/5235430

[with video]

Two Salvation Army whistleblowers were dismissed from their positions at a home in Queensland after they reported an alleged instance of abuse, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining Salvation Army boys homes in New South Wales and Queensland, with a primary focus on cases in the 1960s and 1970s.

Whistleblower Cliff Randall expressed concern about violence towards boys in the Alkira Salvation Army home at Indooroopilly in 1975.

The retired Major worked at the home as a "house parent" with his wife Marina between August 1973 and May 1975.

The commission was told Maor Randall and his wife Marina were suddenly dismissed from their positions when they complained about an incident involving Major John McIver.

Audio: Salvation Army abuse whistleblower dismissed. (PM)

In the incident a boy swung around to avoid being flogged by Major McIver, causing the officer to break a cuff-link.

The officer then allegedly attacked the boy in fury, dislocating his shoulder.

When the Randalls asked for a car to take the boy to hospital, the request was refused, Major Randall told the commission.

"McIver did what used to be done in the old football days," Major Randall said.

"He used a tennis ball under the armpit to pop the shoulder back in.

"This is dangerous, because you can damage the nerves in the shoulder area. The boy was in agony."

The Randalls were told to leave the home after they reported the incident to the Queensland Department of Children's Services.

"The next morning I was called to the office and Captain McIver said 'before the boys come home from school you have to be off the property'.

"McIver instructed the boys that there was a problem and they would need to stay away from us. I phoned Brigadier Reddy, social services secretary in Queensland, who told me Marina and I were trouble-makers.

"Reddy said that 'I have had the truth from the manager, nothing happened, you were telling lies and we want you off the property'."

Police said trafficked boy 'probably at bottom of harbour'

The inquiry heard allegations that boys from the home were flown from Brisbane to Sydney for sexual exploitation.

"They were given drink and chocolates, well, they were used that day in Brisbane and the next day they were sent down to Sydney," Major Randall said.

When one boy did not return, a Queensland police officer quipped that he was probably at the "bottom of the harbour".

Major Randall also told the inquiry another leader, Captain Lawrence Wilson, claimed he was medically trained.

He held "sick parades" where boys were forced to strip naked so he could touch their bodies.

Major Randall also remembers Captain Wilson throwing a boy down a corridor.

"Captain Wilson told me the boys were useless and bad, and it had to be drummed into them that rules are rules," he said.

Police allegedly assaulted victim of child sex abuse

A victim of child sexual abuse accused police officers of assaulting him when he complained about the actions of Salvation Army officers, including Captain Wilson.

During his time in the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn, NSW, the man says he was raped, beaten and forced to eat his own vomit.

In 1972 he escaped and reported two Salvation Army officers to police, but he says nobody listened.

"The police just gave us a flogging by belting me across the neck and side of the head and took us back to the home," he told the commission.

When the boys were taken back, they were flogged by a Salvation Army officer.

The man says he complained to police a second time and was beaten again.

He says after that, he never spoke out.

Lawyers representing the police force say a search is underway for the police officers allegedly involved.

Survivor speaks out on behalf of those who can't

Kevin Marshall, another survivor who has struggled to come to terms with his abuse, told the inquiry he was giving evidence to help those who could not speak out.

"It's those boys, and I still remember, who were being hurt, and I could not help," he said.

"I'll go with my life, but I'll have that pain and the feeling that I let those boys down for the rest of my life. And I bitterly regret that."

He said he was lucky to have a supportive family who helped him process what happened.

"So today, that's why I'm here. So those boys, men, and women, who can't talk about what happened to them, at least I can give some evidence for them."