AUSTRALIA
Telegraph

NATHAN KLEIN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH JANUARY 30, 2014

* Boys ‘were assaulted in showers and were too afraid to complain’
* Victim recalls how elder boys would rape younger residents
* One ‘violent officer’ would punch boys as young as four years old

SALVATION Army officers fondled boys’ penises while they were in the shower, frequently assaulted them and did nothing when told one of the boys in their care was raped, the royal commission into child sex abuse heard yesterday.

Speaking at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, one man – identified only as Mr F P – said he was regularly subjected to sexual abuse and sadistic punishment by officers who were supposed to be caring for him.

He told the inquest one of the ­officers, Lieutenant Spratt, ­approached him and other boys staying at the charity’s homes while…