Widespread and Systematic Sexual Violence from Ireland to Australia, SNAP Wisconsin, September 28, 2011

Widespread and Systematic Sexual Violence from Ireland to Australia

SNAP Wisconsin
September 28, 2011

http://www.snapwisconsin.com/blog/2011/09/28/widespread-and-systematic-sexual-violence-from-ireland-to-australia/

In the introduction to the criminal complaint filed with the International Criminal Court by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) the following statement is made:

“In recent years ongoing revelations of pervasive and serious sexual violence against children and vulnerable adults by priests and others associated with the Catholic Church in different parts of the world have demonstrated that the problem is not one of isolated, random sexual assaults by errant priests, but is occurring on a widespread and systematic basis throughout the Church. In the wake of scandals in Canada, Ireland, the United States and elsewhere, experts and investigators who have carefully studied the issue and the evidence have identified policies and practices that allowed the sexual violence to occur and continue and that furthered the harm to the direct victims. One after another, the investigators have found intentional cover-ups and affirmative steps taken that serve to perpetuate the violence and exacerbate the harm. The same or similar practices and policies have been found virtually everywhere that cases of sexual violence have been brought to light- in Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Mexico among others”.

There are two stories this week that serve to validate and confirm the assessment made by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The first is the publication yesterday of “In Plain Sight” by Amnesty International Ireland which seeks to explain how the rape and torture of children could have been allowed to continue in Ireland for so many years. The Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, Colm O’Gormon confirmed that what happened to the children of Ireland met the legal definition of torture. He stated “Children were tortured. They were brutalized, beaten, starved and abused”. In particular O’Gorman concludes that “Much of the abuse described in the Ryan Report meets the legal definition of torture under international human rights law”.

The Center for Constitutional Rights issued a statement following the release of Amnesty International Ireland’s “In Plain Sight” stating that the findings in the report marked an important step towards holding the Vatican accountable “for the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes throughout the world”.

The second story that has emerged this week concerns events that took place at a Catholic school for the disabled almost 10,000 miles from shores of Ireland.

The Australian Broadcasting Company aired a television special called “St. Ann’s Secret”. The documentary told the story of the sexual violence that had been perpetrated against disabled children at St. Ann’s Special School in Adelaide, Australia. From 1986 to 1991 St. Ann’s School utilized the services of a volunteer bus driver named Brian Bertram Morris Perkins. According to reports Perkins not only assaulted the disabled students in his care but he introduced them to a pedophile ring.

When reports about Perkins first surfaced in 1991 law enforcement officials conducted a search of his home. There they found pornographic pictures Perkins had taken of disabled students at St. Ann’s.

Police made a visit to St. Ann’s School with the pornographic pictures in hand. Shortly after the appearance of law enforcement officials the Catholic Education Office contacted their attorneys. Recently released documents show that attorneys advised the church to “quarantine” the archbishop at the time, Leonard Faulkner, from knowledge of the reports.

When asked what the school should do about the child rapist who was transporting the school’s children the attorneys advised that Perkins dismissal letter should be “neutral”. They explained that ”In the event that the letter were for some reason to fall into media hands at some future time, it allows the Archbishop (Faulkner) to deal with the matter without being compromised by any previous correspondence,” the advice says.

Perkins did receive a dismissal letter from St. Ann’s which stated that “his contribution as a volunteer bus driver for disabled students has been appreciated”.

St. Ann’s School was aware that a child rapist had access to the children of their school. They were aware that he took pornographic pictures of some of their students. Despite this they did not inform all the parents of the school about the danger that their children had been exposed to. They only notified those parents whose children they could confirm had been photographed.

The rest of the parents were kept in the dark. Their children, if they had been assaulted by Perkins, were unable to articulate to them the experience that they had endured. When their children began exhibiting behavioural problems parents were left searching for answers.

The abuse endured by the students of St. Ann’s did not come to light until 2001 when parents from the school discovered it. They now state that if they had known about the abuse occurring they could have ensured that their children received proper treatment at the time.

The bus driver, Brian Perkins, is now deceased. He had served ten years in prison after pleading guilty to five offenses against three students. The total number of students that Perkins is known to have assaulted is at least 36.

Parents are now seeking an independent investigation into the cover-up of sexual assaults that took place at St. Ann’s School. Archbishop Wilson says such an inquiry is simply unnecessary. He said “I really understand the terrible pain that these people have experienced, because of what has happened, and I really have done all I could to help them in that”. He added that “I don’t think there is any need for an independent inquiry…since 2001 we have dealt adequately and properly with all these matters”.

The parents of St. Ann’s School whose children were assaulted want answers. They want to know who knew of the crimes being committed, and what did they do about it. They are the same answers that all survivors and their families want whether they are in Ireland, Australia, or the United States.

As Ireland’s Children’s Minister Francis Fitzgerald stated at the launch of the report “In Plain Sight”, “Children Matter. Families matter. People’s health, hopes, and happiness matter. Everything else is subservient to those things”.