AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net
Abuses by the Marist Brothers order of the Catholic Church have continued to be the focus of the current hearings of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It has heard further evidence from the Marists’ former Sydney head, Alexis Turton (see yesterday’s posting), and a victim known only as DK.
DK was abused by three brothers at the Marist Brothers’ school, St. Augustines (see previous posting) in the city of Cairns, in QueenslandState. One of the abusers was Brother Ross Murrin (see previous posting), who is still in prison for abuse offences at a Marist primary school at Daceyville, and at St. Gregory’s College in Campbelltown. He pleaded guilty to those offences in 2009.
DK told the enquiry that, after the abuse by Murrin, “I received a number of floggings, and was treated differently by the Brothers. I remember being excluded from school event, and feeling like they were trying to get me to leave the school.”
Marist Alexis Turton further enhanced the bad reputation of the Catholic Church with regards to cover-ups. One Brother had been the subject of several complaints, including that he abused a student who then suicided. In 2009, another Brother provided a list of 18 children who might bring claims against him. This list was placed on the Marist secret files, and a copy was sent to the Catholic Church Insurance company.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.