AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)
Helen Davidson, in Canberra
theguardian.com, Wednesday 11 June 2014
A man who was abused as a child by a former Marist Brothers teacher accused the Catholic church of having a “sociopathic disregard for the welfare of victims” after its senior counsel attempted to discredit him as a witness by airing past drug use.
Damian De Marco told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in Canberra that he had repeatedly warned the Marist Brothers that one of their members, brother Kostka Chute, had abused him and was still abusing other young students, but he was ignored and given false promises that Chute would be kept away from children.
Chute eventually admitted to abusing six boys and was jailed for two years in 2009.
On Tuesday afternoon Peter Gray, who was representing the Marist Brothers but is also representing the Catholic church’s Truth, Justice and Healing council throughout the royal commission, sought to paint De Marco as a heavy marijuana user who likely had an affected memory as a result.
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