AUSTRALIA
The West Australian
Amanda Banks, Legal Affairs Editor
December 19, 2014
Christian Brothers’ leaders knew of allegations of sexual abuse of children at four WA orphanages and failed to manage the homes to prevent the systemic ill-treatment for decades, a royal commission has found.
A report released today has found the Christian Brothers failed in their obligation to provide for and educate the orphans, with inspections by visiting supervisors from the order over the decades paying more attention to financial and religious matters than the welfare of the children.
The report by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has also found State authorities played a limited role in the care of the boys, which contributed to their isolation and limited options for disclosing their abuse.
The findings in the case study of the four homes come after a public hearing in Perth in April which laid bare harrowing details of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, neglect and unpaid child labour at the Bindoon, Clontarf, Castledare and Tardun orphanages.
Eleven former residents of the homes told the two-week hearing of their stories of abuse, including being groomed as “sex pets”, sadistically beaten, raped, neglected in appalling living conditions and disbelieved or ignored when they reported their treatment.
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