Christian Brothers told boy, 10, to make himself less attractive, inquiry told, The Guardian (UK) (April 29, 2014)

Christian Brothers told boy, 10, to make himself less attractive, inquiry told

Orphan was told to stop leading brothers on – and children were pimped out to photographer and known abuser

A 10-year-old boy was told by a priest to make himself less attractive so as not to be a target for sexual abuse, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has also heard that Christian Brothers pimped boys out to a visiting photographer at St Joseph's Farm and Trade School, Bindoon, in the late 1950s.

A witness known as VV on Tuesday told the commission in Perth that a Christian Brother who raped him suddenly announced he needed to confess his sins.

"Then Brother Parker came back and said I needed to see Father Gerard. Father Gerard sat me down and told me what we were doing was very wrong, and that I should make myself less attractive," VV said.

"I should stop leading Brother Parker on, because it was a sin. He told me it was my fault, all the while he sat there sucking a cigar, blaming a child for being assaulted."

He said boys were also sent out on picnics with a local photographer, who was known to abuse boys. Boys were also promised parcels of land by brothers who used the inducement to groom them.

When VV – an orphan in care since the age of four in England – arrived at Bindoon aged nine, he was the youngest there and below the 10-year age requirement for the school.

Soon after arriving, he was raped by Brother Christopher Angus. After the attack, VV was dumped in a 44-gallon drum of water. "He said words to the effect of 'clean yourself up'," VV said.

He was also savagely beaten numerous times, and has lost hearing in his left ear.

Meanwhile, VV's mother tried repeatedly to find him in England.

"She was told I was put into a good home in Australia, that I was cared for and loved and that I would receive an education," he said. "She never gave permission for me to go to Australia."

VV never saw his mother again.

Years after he left Bindoon he was offered $20,000 compensation by the Catholic Church's professional standards office, which later upped it to $40,000 when VV said he found it insulting.

"This meeting was very intimidating," VV said. "The brothers were not approachable or welcoming and I felt intimidated. I felt like a child again, trying to defend myself."

The hearings continue.