NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV
On 17 January 1951, John was one of the first boys to enter Rubane House, the boys home run by the De La Salle order which is currently being investigated by the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry.
John (not his real name) was 14 years old at the time.
“I was frightened because I didn’t know what to make of it. The big place looked like somewhere medieval,” he said in an exclusive interview with UTV Live Tonight.
John, now aged 77, recalled how he was sexually abused on the day after he arrived there under the guise of horseplay and was continually beaten for no reason.
On one occasion, he was caned on the hands so badly that his fingernail came off and he was left on his knees crying in pain.
Another time, he was sent to get a film but lost the ten shilling note. Terrified of what would happened to him, he ran away and was picked up by the police.
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