Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse Releases Nine Unheard Stories
By Rohan Smith
NATALIE wanted desperately to become a model. So, when a Catholic priest set up a studio in his office, she jumped at the opportunity to be photographed. Soon, she realised there was a problem. Father Collier, who assisted at the primary school attended by the 11-year-old in 1985, asked her to change out of her uniform and into something more flattering. He handed her a white, see-through shirt and told her: “Don’t put any underwear on because you’ll see lines and it’ll ruin the photos.” This year, telling her story to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Natalie said the photographs were the beginning of something worse. “He asked me to pose like Elle McPherson,” she said. “I knew he was taking photos of my private parts ... I was begging to go home.” She said he put his hand inside her shirt and, despite knowing the abuse was wrong, didn’t tell anybody because “no one would believe (me)”. She said her world “fell apart” after an hour spent inside that room, surrounded by white sheets, alone with the priest. “I just saw the world in a completely different way after what he did to me. I felt this sense that my only value was sexual. “I left home at 15 and by 17 I was a prostitute ... I wish somebody had looked at why I was going off the rails.” Natalie terminated at least eight pregnancies in the years that followed before finally reporting the abuse. She hopes that by telling her story it will encourage others to tell theirs. “I’ve been beaten by boyfriends, knocked unconscious, but now I’m standing up for myself,” Natalie said. “He can’t hurt me anymore.” On Wednesday, the Commission published nine audio stories based on survivors’ experiences. The stories were revealed in private sessions and would ordinarily not be made available to the public. But Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said commissioners decided to use real quotes taken from the sessions and change victims’ names to keep them anonymous. “By publishing these audio stories, the Royal Commission is giving all Australians an opportunity to better understand these events and play a part in keeping children safe.” ‘HE CAME AND TAPPED ME ON THE FOOT’ Scott was sent to a state-run hostel in Western Australia in the 1970s as a 12-year-old boy. There, he met Harold Fletcher, a warden at the hostel. In evidence to the Royal Commission, Scott said Fletcher was “Citizen of the Year” in the local area and “controlled” the entire town. He said that’s why nobody believed him when he told them that at night, while he was sleeping, Fletcher would enter his room and tap him on the foot. “That meant you had to go to his room and that’s where he’d rape you,” Scott said. The sexual abuse went on for two years then abruptly ended. “Once you were a bit older, you didn’t get the tap on the foot anymore,” Scott said. “He’d move on to the younger boys.” Scott buried the abuse until 2011 when he heard charges of child sexual assault had been brought against his abuser. He called the lawyer involved in the case and more victims came forward. Fletcher pleaded guilty after lots of bargaining. He was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. ‘HE MADE ME HIS PET, GAVE ME JOBS’ Felicity was 11 when, in 1968, she met her teacher, Mr Fielding. “He made me his pet, gave me responsibilities,” Felicity told the Royal Commission. “He asked me to go around and babysit while he and his wife were home. Every time she’d leave the room he’d kiss me and touch me. “We’d be at the drive-in and she’d go for food. He’d be straight in the back seat with me. He’d abuse me at his office at school as well. “Looking back at photos, I was a pretty little girl, but that was no excuse.” She said the abuse included digital penetration and, at the time, she had no idea what was happening. As a result of the abuse, other students teased her. She said her life went from trauma to trauma. She “fell in to a dark hole but didn’t care”, she said. Relationships failed and she moved more than 130 times. “It took a long time to talk about my sexual abuse,” she said. “I used to think: ‘Why did that happen to me? What did I do wrong?’ “Then I think: ‘I was 11. I was a kid.’” Her story is similar to that told by Tracey, another victim to give evidence. At the age of 15, she said he music teacher preyed on her. “My parents were teachers and assumed all teachers were good,” she said. It was 1987 when Tracey was offered private lessons. She attended but soon started to feel uneasy about the attention. “Sometimes he would touch my arms but it felt very sexual,” she said. One day, after experiencing similar treatment, Tracey left. She walked out of a private lesson but was persuaded to return. “I now realise (that) was stupid,” she said. “I went back and he raped me. I jumped in the shower (when I got home) and I could see his vivid fingerprints on my arms in the bathroom mirror.” Her distress resurfaced when, down the track, she was asked to give evidence at a tribunal into his behaviour. “Mr Edmunds sat a metre across the table, smirking at me. That day was almost as traumatic as the rape itself. “They read parts of my diary. It was a very distressing experience.” Mr Edmunds was dismissed but he was also paid a sum of money from the school. Tracey says he went on to work in other state schools. Mr Reed said commissioners heard from more than 5500 victims from across the spectrum. He hopes that by sharing their stories, others will come forward. “Survivors of child sexual abuse in an institution come from all walks of life,” Mr Reed said. “The stories released this week are just a small sample of the many circumstances and institutions recounted to the Royal Commission in private sessions.” Names and locations have been altered to protect victims’ identities. For support and information about suicide prevention, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.