Times of Malta
August 4, 2011
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110804/local/-I-tried-to-make-a-good-home-for-troubled-angry-children-.378640
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| Defrocked and disgraced: Former priest Charles Pulis after he left the court on Tuesday when he was sentenced to jail for the sexual abuse of children under his care. He is accompanied by his lawyer Giannella Caruana Curran. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lup |
Despite being under psychiatric care and taking pills for severe depression, one of the priests convicted of sexual abuse on Tuesday had been allowed to look after teenagers from broken homes.
Defrocked Charles Pulis, 65, has a family history of psychiatric problems, two grandparents and a nephew having committed suicide. He himself was on medication while in close contact with the young men and looking after them, the court heard in the course of the case against him over the sexual abuse of eight boys.
This emerges from the 94-page judgment handed down by Magistrate Saviour Demicoli that was published yesterday. It exposes the sordid and "disgusting" experiences 11 boys aged between 13 and 16 were subjected to about 20 years ago, right up to 2003.
Mr Pulis and Fr Francesco Scerri, 75, also known as Godwin, were sentenced to six years and five years in prison respectively.
In their testimony, most of the victims recounted how Mr Pulis, who was defrocked by the Holy See last month, would bite and kiss them before running his hands up their legs as they lay in bed, and then fondling them.
One of his victims said he would throw up shortly afterwards and another that he would run to the toilet and wash his face to clean himself once his abuser had left the room.
Mr Pulis testified that his mother was of a very nervous disposition and he could recall, when he was about eight or nine years old, going to a police station with his mother to look for his father who had not come home. Not only did he inherit this nervousness from his mother but also depression that ran through his family. In fact, his sister suffered from chronic depression and had to be given electric shocks as treatment, Mr Pulis recounted.
He said he always needed to have company and began suffering from panic attacks whenever he was alone. The fact that he used to travel to Australia did not help and he had to seek psychiatric help while there too.
At the age of 13 he decided to try to become a priest with the Missionary Society of St Paul and, by his own admission, lost his youth by doing so. His mother died aged 61 and any family problem that existed fell onto his lap. Although that troubled him even further, he continued to teach 36 children at the St Joseph home because he felt it was his mission. Following this stint he went on to look after children with far more troubled backgrounds, such as criminal and abusive parents, and who had a lot of anger inside them, which they expressed towards him.
He testified that he had tried to make a home for such children, one that was similar to a proper home environment. Chief Justice Emeritus Vincent De Gaetano, who at the time was a university student, would go to the home and help out with homework and extracurricular activities.
Health Minister Joseph Cassar, who was Mr Pulis' psychiatrist, recalled one incident when he had received a phone call from him in Rome and he sounded very depressed. Mr Pulis told him he was going through a particularly bad episode and needed help and a very worried Dr Cassar referred him to a colleague in Rome.
Mr Pulis would speak of hopelessness and helplessness, symptoms shown by people who were suicidal. In fact, the priest would speak of the wish to die, Dr Cassar testified. This wish was only expressed a few times and in terms of taking an overdose of pills.
The level of anxiety experienced by Mr Pulis was such that it was actually dysfunctional and required medication. The dysfunctional aspect was so great that, together with his superior, Fr Silvio Bezzina, the decision was taken not to allow Mr Pulis to drive, Dr Cassar recalled.
He said he had first seen Mr Pulis in July 2003 and it seemed to him that the patient had told him about the sexual abuse allegations that were made before that month.
The patient had told him on a number of occasions about the anxiety resulting from such allegations and how it had destroyed him because he had dedicated his life to looking after children, only for things to turn out the way they did. He had also denied ever sexually abusing the children, Dr Cassar said.
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