Caldey Island Sexual Abuse Independent Inquiry Call

Jackson Observer
January 4, 2018

https://jacksonobserver.com/caldey-island-sexual-abuse-independent-inquiry-call/

Victims of historic sexual abuse at a monastery on Caldey Island deserve an independent inquiry, a support group has said.

Six women have been paid compensation in an out-of-court settlement following sexual abuse claims in the 1970s and 1980s by a monk at the abbey.

The Children‘s Commissioner is to write to the monastery for an assurance that children who visit the island are safe.

The Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors group want an investigation.

“It is human nature to protect those around you,” said Jo Kind, the Welsh representative of the group which supports women and men who have been sexually abused by members of the Church.

“In order for that to be open and for all of the facts to be found out, there does need an independent inquiry from somebody who is not part of the institution, who can come in with expertise, ask the right questions and find out what happened.”

Dyfed-Powys Police has confirmed it received reports of historical sexual abuse by a monk on Caldey Island.

Father Thaddeus Kotik, who lived on the Pembrokeshire island for 45 years, abused six children in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ms Kind also wants a “full and frank apology” from the abbot and called for a change in the law so reporting of sexual abuse “should be mandatory”.

“That would make it much easier for people to report because victims wouldn‘t fear that it would damage their relationship with the institution,” said Ms Kind,

“They would know that they would have to do it.

“There would have been a lot of people who knew about Father Thaddeus, not just on the island but further up in the Cistercian order.

“The people that have been abused in this way deserve and an independent inquiry so the truth of what happened is fully exposed. They need to know who knew what and when.”