School Principal Says Paedophile Teacher in Newcastle Admitted Abuse 40 Years Ago
By David Marchese
The former principal of a Marist Brothers high school in Newcastle has told the child abuse royal commission a notorious paedophile admitted to him he had abused children 40 years before he was charged. After a week of evidence, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing into the Hunter region's Catholic Church is now examining the response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse. Former principal of the Marist Brothers' Hamilton school, Christopher Wade, admitted he should have done more to follow up child sexual abuse allegations levelled at teacher Francis Cable, known as Brother Romuald. Brother Romuald was sentenced to 16 years' jail last year after being convicted of dozens of child abuse charges. Brother Christopher was principal of the school between 1970 and 1976 and said he was told of an allegation that Brother Romuald had "interfered" with a boy but could not remember when the allegation was made. "I can remember feeling extremely anxious and nervous in having to confront him ... he was a very physically dominating and intimidating character," he told the royal commission. Brother Christopher said Brother Romuald responded: "I thought I had been good in that area recently." Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said it was clear Brother Romuald was admitting he had abused boys in the past. "There's no doubt about it, the man was making an admission to you as you understood it, wasn't he?" Brother Christopher responded: "Yes." He later told the commission he felt a "great sense of grief and regret" about the victims of Brother Romuald. "I should have at least informed the Provincial and possibly gone to the police," he said. Principal 'scared' of paedophile teacher
Brother Christopher said he was "scared" of Brother Romuald and frightened about the repercussions of confronting him. He admitted that all he wanted to hear from the Brother was a denial so he could "put an end to the matter". Justice McClellan was fierce in questioning Brother Christopher about his role as school principal. Mr McClellan: "I take that you knew they were crimes if adults sexually interfered with children?" Mr Wade: "I think I understood that." Mr McClellan: "You only think you understood that? You were the headmaster of a school. Mr Wade: "Yes." Brother Christopher said in hindsight his capacity to care for the 950 children at his school was "not adequate" and "woefully lacking". We don't need your pity: survivor The royal commission heard from two more survivors of child sexual abuse who detailed their struggles to overcome their trauma. Scott Hallett was just nine years old when paedophile priest Vince Ryan began abusing him as an altar boy in Newcastle. Mr Hallett fought back tears as he described how Ryan forced him to have sex with other boys, while he laughed. Now 51, Mr Hallett said the abuse has driven him to attempt suicide while calling for the community to listen to the survivors' stories. "We don't need your pity, what we need is people to have an understanding of what we have had to endure," he said. Mr Hallett said there needed to be more vigilance about protecting children. "If I can help people understand that if a child says something that's not quite right, ask a question," he said. "Usually there is a window of opportunity during the grooming stage where we can act before the point of no return. "Once a child is broken, they can't be fixed." The royal commission hearing is expected to wrap up tomorrow afternoon, following the evidence of more church officials and survivors.
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