IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
Wed, Feb 19, 2014
In what is believed to be the highest court settlement in a child abuse case in Ireland, a High Court judge has ordered the Christian Brothers congregation to pay €370,000 damages following sexual abuse of the “most extreme” kind inflicted on a young boy over a five-year period in the 1980s by a since deceased brother.
Mr Justice Kevin Cross found negligent failure by the congregation in taking no steps “whatsoever” to supervise the brother or prevent him getting access to a vulnerable child, despite having “full knowledge” the brother had previously abused other young boys.
Even by the standards of the 1980s, the congregation ought to have put in place a system to watch and monitor the brother to ensure he did not have access to this boy or any others, the judge said. There was no evidence of any system put in place or any treatment of this brother that differentiated him from a vast majority of non-abusive brothers, he said.
Warning
Despite the brother having been given a canonical warning in 1960 relating to abuse, it seemed clear the congregation proceeded to treat him in precisely the same manner as every other member of their congregation, the judge said.
This negligence resulted in the boy being grievously assaulted over a prolonged period of time with significant adverse consequences to him, he said.
The abuse suffered was among the most extreme he had seen in his legal career and had caused severe injury affecting the man throughout his life, the judge added.
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