‘We were little slaves’: Child abuse survivors share stories ahead of royal commission findings

AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

December 13, 2017

By Emily Piesse

Dallas Phillips describes her childhood in Western Australia as akin to slavery.

It began in the Wheatbelt town of Goomalling, where the Noongar woman was beaten by a local priest.

“I still see him in my sleep. He was a really, really bad man,” she said.

She acted out against the abuse and was sent to the Benedictine Community of New Norcia, about an hour’s drive away.

The New Norcia diocese had the highest number of alleged child sex offenders in the WA Catholic Church between 1950 and 2010.

“I suffered so much,” Ms Phillips recalled.

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