Salvation Army's 'Worst Decision' Was to Allow Abuser Back, Inquiry Hears

Guardian
February 7, 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/salvation-armys-worst-decision-was-to-allow-abuser-back-inquiry-hears

Major Peter Farthing, who is co-ordinating the Salvation Army’s response to the commission, said he expected more victims to come forward. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP Image

The Salvation Army’s decision to allow a man with a history of abuse to re-enter its ranks was the worst mistake in its history, an inquiry has been told.

The Salvos had already dealt with many allegations of brutal sexual and physical abuse by Lawrence Wilson, a former manager of boys homes in NSW and Queensland, a hearing of the royal commission into child sex abuse heard in Sydney.

Major Peter Farthing, who is co-ordinating the Salvation Army’s response to the commission, said he expected more victims to come forward.

Answering questions about how Wilson, who was dismissed from the army in 1961, applied to re-enter in 1965, Farthing said it had never been policy to check references when hiring staff.

In the interim he had been employed by the NSW government as a child welfare officer but left after being reprimanded for excessive punishment of boys in his care. His supervisor with the department also recommended he not be allowed to work with boys.

Farthing described Wilson as the Salvation Army’s most serious offender and said they had received a very large number of complaints. There were “probably more out there who have not been in touch with us yet”, he added.

He also said the army had learned that Wilson was interfering with a boy or boys in 1964 or 1965 but no action was taken and there was no record on file.

“The failure to pass it on or deal with it led to what was probably the worst decision the Salvation Army Eastern Territory has taken in all its history”, he said.

Within a few years of his re-acceptance, Wilson became manager of Gill Memorial Home for Boys in Goulburn NSW, where he went on to sexually and physically abuse boys.

The commission, which is examining what happened in four Salvation Army homes – two in NSW and two in Queensland – has heard that after his re-acceptance Mr Wilson worked in three, including Gill.