Inquiry Focus on Anglican Abuse of Orphans

The 9 News
November 17, 2013

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/11/17/12/47/inquiry-focus-on-anglican-abuse-of-orphans

The devastating long-term effects of child sexual abuse and how the Anglican Church paid off victims from a NSW orphanage where children were brutally beaten will be highlighted at a national inquiry.

Hearings in the third case study by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse open in Sydney on Monday and will focus on the response of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton to claims of child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore.

How the diocese handled a group claim for compensation will also be examined.

In 2007 the church offered a total of $825,000 to 41 former residents of the orphanage.

Some rejected the offer and described it as shamefully inadequate, and civil claims were launched.

Royal commission chief executive Janette Dines says the public hearing will focus on those who made claims to the Anglican Diocese of Grafton from 2005.

"This historical example of institutional child sexual abuse is expected to highlight just how devastating and long-lasting the effects of child sexual abuse are", she said in a statement.

This hearing will investigate whether the diocese followed appropriate policies and procedures with respect to the group claim.

What occurred when former residents of the orphanage came forward after the group settlement would also be examined, Ms Dines said.

More victims came forward after Richard "Tommy" Campion, who was in the Lismore home between the 1940s and 1960s, launched a campaign. He rejected the group settlement.

In interviews this year Mr Campion told of brutal bashings and how children were flogged with broomsticks, canes, pony whips and belts and locked in cupboards.

He said he was hoping the royal commission would lead to public apologies to individual victims and compensation.

The hearings will also consider what disciplinary action and risk assessments occurred within the Newcastle and Grafton Dioceses of the Anglican Church concerning those who were convicted or accused of child sexual abuse at the home.

Alan Kitchingman, who was chaplain at the home in the 1970s, pleaded guilty in April 2002 to five counts of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in 1975 and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

In May this year, Bishop of Grafton Keith Slater resigned and apologised for his failings in handling complaints about the orphanage. It is expected he will be called to appear before the inquiry.