Anglican Church Denied Sexual Abuse at Nsw North Coast Children's Home

By Paul Bibby
The Sydney Morning Herald
November 19, 2013

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/anglican-church-denied-sexual-abuse-at-nsw-north-coast-childrens-home-20131118-2xr9t.html

"I decided, after having dreams about children being beaten at the end of their beds, I had to do something": Richard Campion.

The Anglican Church repeatedly denied responsibility for the physical and sexual abuse inflicted on scores of children at its home on the NSW north coast, the royal commission has heard, with one senior church figure allegedly declaring ''at least they had got a roof over their heads''.

The commission is examining the church's response to allegations generations of vulnerable children at the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore were abused from as early as 1944 to 1985.

The first day of the hearing on Monday heard harrowing evidence from victims of the abuse who recalled being assaulted on a regular basis by members of the clergy, other employees and residents. This included being anally raped, forced to perform oral sex, and beaten with canes and ''pony'' whips.

The commission heard that in 2007 one of the victims, Richard ''Tommy'' Campion, helped launch a group claim against the church on behalf of 41 victims.

''I decided, after having dreams about children being beaten at the end of their beds, that I had to do something,'' Mr Campion said. Mr Campion said the church vehemently denied responsibility for what had happened at the home, telling him ''we didn't own the home, we didn't run the home, the church had nothing to do with it''.

''I knew they were lies, I mean, I was there, I saw everything that went on,'' he said.

The church claimed it was not it but a ''community committee'' responsible for running the home, and many of the allegations were too old to have legal standing.

Registrar of the Grafton diocese Pat Comben publicly questioned the truth of the allegations, telling a newspaper the victims had ''substantial hurdles to overcome'' to prove their case and described the home as ''a great north coast community facility''. Mr Comben, now retired, also allegedly said of the victims' experiences ''at least they had a roof over their heads''.

Eventually, the church offered to settle the case for $825,000, to be shared among all 41 victims. After paying their legal expenses each individual would be left with $10,000. The majority of the claimants accepted the settlement, but Mr Campion wrote a stinging letter to the diocese declaring ''you have got to be joking''.

''I wanted them to admit that they ran it,'' Mr Campion said. ''It wasn't about the money.''

In reply, Grafton's then-bishop Keith Slater declared, ''What you are now asking … would actually be a betrayal of all those whom you encouraged to make a claim with you through your lawyer''.

The rhetoric only served to spur on Mr Campion. He eventually forced the church to acknowledge, first privately and then publicly, it was responsible for what had happened in the home.

The commission heard this was achieved in part by waiting outside the office of Anglican Primate Dr Phillip Aspinall for weeks on end, until he finally agreed to a meeting last year.