AUSTRALIA
The Australian
DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 30, 2014
A QUEENSLAND man raped and locked in a cage for weeks at a time by a Salvation Army officer was subsequently told to sign documents waiving his right to sue, despite the organisation knowing he could not read.
The man, who cannot be named, yesterday told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he was about 14 years old when he was abused at the Salvation Army-run Riverview boys home, near Brisbane.
Decades later, in 2011, the organisation offered him $70,000, saying “It’s a gift from us to you”, the commission heard.
He later received a deed of release by post and was told to sign and return the papers, despite having previously told the Salvation Army he could not read.
This document, produced during yesterday’s hearing, now includes the signature of a witness, Narelle Matthews, despite the abuse victim saying, “I was alone when I signed that document . . . I do not know anyone called that.
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