AUSTRALIA
Sky News
A former resident of an infamous central Queensland orphanage says she tried to blow the whistle on sexual abuse she suffered while in care but was ignored by authorities.
A royal commission sitting in Rockhampton has heard that sadistic punishments and sexual abuse were rife at St Joseph’s Neerkol Orphanage, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy from 1885 and 1978.
Former resident Diane Carpenter, 62, told the second day of a public hearing that while at Neerkol in Rockhampton she was sexually abused by a priest called Father Michael Hayes and by a member of a foster family who took her in during holidays.
Ms Carpenter said she was frequently physically assaulted and abused by the Sisters of Mercy, and detailed one occasion when she was locked in a hot room and forced to drink her own urine to stay hydrated.
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