AUSTRALIA
The Australian
Michael Owen
SA Bureau Chief
Adelaide
A family that has been battling for 15 years for compensation after their disabled son was abused by a South Australian Catholic school volunteer in the 1980s has settled its claim with the church.
Peter Mitchell, the father of the victim, now aged in his 40s, yesterday said the confidential settlement “means a great deal in going towards my son’s care and we can finally start moving on after so many years”.
“The Catholic Church has settled our case after 15 years of battling for compensation for my disabled son’s sexual abuse by a pedophile at their school,” Mr Mitchell said yesterday.
“This showed just how horrific the abuse and failures of the church were at St Ann’s Special School, with 30 other disabled children being abused.
“As a parent, I’ll never be able to fully recover from how this has hurt my son.”
Mr Mitchell said he had launched an online petition two years ago because the church was “refusing to come to the table to negotiate”; it had attracted more than 110,000 signatures.
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