Former residents of a now-closed Catholic orphanage in Vermont say nuns killed and tortured foster children

By Kelly Mclaughlin
Insider
August 27, 2018

https://www.thisisinsider.com/catholic-orphanages-former-residents-say-nuns-killed-children-2018-8

The former St. Joseph’s Orphanage, which later made into the diocese headquarters, was sold to Burlington College in 2010 Photo by Toby Talbot

• An investigation into Catholic orphanages in the US revealed systematic abuse that many children faced from nuns in the 20th century.
• Former residents said they were forced to kneel or stand for hours, were dangled outside windows and over wells, and were locked in cabinets and closets.
• At St Joseph's Catholic Orphanage in Burlington, Vermont, former residents say the abuse sometimes led to death.
• The investigation by Buzzfeed News comes weeks after a Pennsylvania grand jury report accused the Catholic Church of covering up the abuse of 1,000 children.

Former residents of a now-closed Catholic orphanage in Vermont say nuns killed and tortured foster children who were staying at the facility between 1930 and 1970, according to an investigation from Buzzfeed News.

The investigation reveals the systematic abuse many children allegedly faced from nuns at St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage in Burlington, as well as other orphanages across the US.

It comes weeks after a Pennsylvania grand jury report accused the Catholic Church of covering up the abuse of 1,000 children at the hands of hundreds of priests across six dioceses.

People who grew up in Catholic orphanages in the US said they were forced to kneel or stand for hours, were dangled outside windows and over wells, and were locked in cabinets and closets — and often forgotten about. Some said they were forced to eat their own vomit.

The former residents of America's Catholic orphanage system told Buzzfeed that some children did not make it out of the facilities alive because of the nuns' brutality.

Former residents at the now-shuttered St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington started speaking out about sexual and physical abuse in the 1990s.

They recalled children being thrown down stairs, shaken into shock and beaten over and over while living at the orphanage between the 1930s to 1970s.

One former orphan, Joseph Barquin, said he was fondled by nuns who then mutilated his genitals.

Barquin formally accused the orphanage of abuse in 1993, and his allegations opened the floodgates, with more than 100 other former residents coming forward with similar allegations.

The church offered 100 accusers $5,000 each for therapy if they agreed not to sue, Vermont's local Seven Days previously reported.

The Burlington Diocese came back into the spotlight in 2010 when it sold the former orphanage to help cover the costs of a $17 million settlement with victims of priest abuse in Vermont.

The Burlington diocese's Monsignor John McDermott acknowledged the alleged abuse in a statement to Buzzfeed.

"Please know that the Diocese of Burlington treats allegations of child abuse seriously and procedures are in place for reporting to the proper authorities. While it cannot alter the past, the Diocese is doing everything it can to ensure children are protected," McDermott said.

While other countries including Ireland and Australia have opened national inquiries into the Catholic orphanage system, reports on the US facilities have not faced the same scrutiny.

More than 5 million Americans passed through orphanages in the 20th century, and at its peak in the 1930s, the system included more than 1,600 institutions. The Catholic Church ran some of the institutions, but not all.