By Ruth Gledhill
The Times
May 5, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6226891.ece
 |
| Patrick Raggett |
The Roman Catholic Church in Britain could face a surge of US-style compensation claims over child abuse after a former City lawyer yesterday won the right to claim £5 million in damages.
Patrick Raggett, 50, claims that his life was ruined because of years of insidious abuse by Father Michael Spencer, a teacher at the Jesuit-run Preston Catholic College in Lancashire. Child abuse has cost the Roman Catholic Church in the US more than $2.6 billion, with $436 million paid out last year alone.
Until now the Church and religious orders in Britain have escaped such claims, many cases being settled out of court for a few thousand pounds.
Mr Raggett told the High Court that, while he was naked, the priest measured him “to chart his growth”, filmed him performing exercises, photographed him and touched him inappropriately.
He said that it was many years before he connected his experiences at school with years of underachievement at work, a failed marriage and binge drinking. But a breakdown in 2005 propelled him into therapy, where he made the connection between his childhood and his adult problems.
The college closed in 1978 and the governors deny liability, arguing that even if there were abuse the case should not proceed because it is outside the legal time limit. Spencer died nine years ago, aged 76.
Mrs Justice Swift ruled that the case could go ahead to a full trial. She said she accepted Mr Raggett’s evidence that Spencer had subjected him to sexual assault and other forms of abuse on many occasions. He was sometimes abused several times a week over about four years until he was in his fifth year at the college.
After the hearing Mr Raggett said: “I am very pleased at the outcome of the trial and would like to thank my family, my legal team and everyone else who supported me throughout, especially my courageous fellow witnesses.”
Mr Raggett, who now runs his own business consultancy in Fulham, West London, added: “The most important aspect of this trial is that the people who allowed this to happen — and who were quite happy to see it swept under the carpet — have been held responsible at last.
“For all the warm words from the Jesuit order about co-operating in this case, the reality is they fought it tooth and nail without regard for my feelings.
“There is a large gap between what they preach and the way they give no quarter even when, as here, both experts agreed sexual abuse had occurred.
“I want to urge others who are being or who were similarly mistreated to come forward. The Jesuit order, the Catholic Church generally, is still not accepting legal and moral responsibility for the dark virus of abuse in the way it should.”
During the hearing the judge ordered the respondent to pay ?200,000 on account of the claimant’s costs, which are estimated to be about £470,000. Mr Raggett’s counsel, Robert Seabrook, QC, said that Spencer, who taught French and coached football, used his obsession with sport and photography to augment his deviant tendencies.
Mr Raggett’s school friends were well aware of Spencer’s propensities, as he would insist on the football team not wearing underwear and would join them in the showers, occasionally washing them.
Mr Seabrook said psychiatrists considered that Mr Raggett, who attended the school between 1969 and 1976, exhibited many symptoms typically seen in survivors of child abuse — the effects of which, although profound, were not at first obvious.
In his final year at school, Mr Raggett began to gamble, getting into debt, and went on to underperform at university. He had difficulty forming intimate relationships, drank excessively and took drugs socially.
He qualified as a solicitor, but jobs with a number of well-known City firms, including one as a salaried partner in Birmingham and one in Hong Kong, ended with dismissal or rejection for rash or unreliable conduct.
His breakdown, in April 2005, occurred after he got into a theological discussion with a priest and the “dam burst” as he suddenly could not stop sobbing. Mr Seabrook said: “At no time before that date did he attribute his disabilities to Father Michael Spencer’s really outrageous and disreputable behaviour and there was no reason why he should — this was not a violent or painful rape or assault.”
A spokesman for the Jesuits said: “The Society of Jesus accepts with deep sorrow the judgment given. At this stage, the society fully reserves its position in relation to any potential appeal against the judgment. The Society of Jesus abhors the abusive behaviour which the judge finds that Father Michael Spencer committed against Mr Raggett in the 1970s. The society further regrets any damage which this behaviour may have done to Mr Raggett.”
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.