AUSTRALIA
The West Australian
AMANDA BANKS LEGAL AFFAIRS EDITOR The West Australian
May 6, 2014
Complaints of sexual and physical abuse against 70 different Christian Brothers across Australia were recorded in the order’s own records between 1919 and 1969, the royal commission in Perth was told this morning.
The commission has also heard evidence that the extent of the harm inflicted on boys by their abuse at the hands of Christian Brothers was first recognised by the order’s leaders in 1954, but no fundamental changes were made in response to the concerns.
Giving evidence for a second day, former Christian Brothers Province leader Anthony Shanahan agreed that the relevant leadership of the order from the 1920s to the 1960s had been aware at the relevant time of complaints of sexual, and in some cases, physical abuse of children.
The records revealed that among the 70 individuals brothers who were subject to complaints, 18 committed repeat offences. A Brother Keenan was the subject of four complaints and a Brother Lambert Wise had five separate allegations against him.
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