UNITED KINGDOM
Church Militant
by Christine Niles • ChurchMilitant.com • February 4, 2016
The religious order has been dogged by sex scandals worldwide
A victim of sex abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers religious order is going public.
Leslie Turner, a teacher in the United Kingdom, is breaking his silence in a new film released by The Guardian. As a result of sex abuse he claims to have suffered at the hands of two members of the Christian Brothers at St. Aidan’s Roman Catholic Grammar School in northeast England, Turner was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and has since been paid £17,000 (about $25,000).
The Congregation of Christian Brothers settled the lawsuit just before the case was to go to trial, where the order would’ve been forced to disclose whether other students had also been abused, and how the Congregation handled those complaints.
The Congregation is refusing to admit liability, stating it’s unable to admit or deny the allegations, and that it would be “quite impossible” to investigate the charges long after the the alleged abusers’ death.
The Christian Brothers have been dogged by multiple sex abuse scandals worldwide, suffering a sharp drop in members over the last few decades. In addition to the United Kingdom, lawsuits have been filed against the Congregation in Ireland, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.