Child sex abuse inquiry: Head of NSW yoga retreat apologises to victims

By Antonette Collins
ABC News
December 10, 2014

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-10/satyananda-yoga-ashram-apologises-abuse-victims-royal-commission/5957262

The Satyananda Yoga Ashram became the Australian headquarters of a global yoga movement.

The chief executive of a yoga ashram on the New South Wales Central Coast has apologised for mistakes made in dealing with child abuse victims, including some whose Facebook posts about the abuse were deleted.

Sarah Tetlow told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that compensation would be offered to victims abused by a former spiritual leader at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram.

The commission has been investigating the handling of the complaints, which date back to the 1970s and '80s.

Ms Tetlow said the organisation made errors earlier this year, when it first gave an apology to victims on Facebook but then removed some posts and sent cease and desist letters to the posts' authors.

"Definitely the way the organisation has responded has not been helpful to the victims," Ms Tetlow told the Sydney hearing.

"We did what we did and some things didn't work out and we accept that.

"With everything that we did, or decisions we made, we were trying to do something that would be helpful and we realised that we didn't succeed in that, which is one of the reasons why we're so welcoming of this royal commission, because obviously we haven't done the right thing.

"So what is the right thing? We're hoping this process will determine what that is."

The Indian headquarters for the ashram, the Bihar School of Yoga, has also apologised through a letter read at the commission hearing by its lawyer.

"It is a matter of great distress and sadness that the yoga principles that we believe in and work for have been so grossly misused and maligned," it said.

The commission also heard that the ashram had received an email from the Bihar School of Yoga in October, which demanded an official apology for tarnishing the reputation of the Satyananda or Bihar yoga movement.

The letter, believed to be written on behalf of Swami Niranjan, said that "administrators of the institution are willing to involve him in the investigation of 20-year-old sex scandals and tarnish his reputation".

It also threatened to withdraw its association and support from the Mangrove Mountain ashram, demanding "a full account, apology and rectified system to ensure that such events will not happen again".

Ms Tetlow said the letter was in response to a summons sent by the royal commission.

She told the commission there would be some commercial repercussions if the threat was carried out, but many people who attend the ashram are not connected with the movement.

The commission was also told the ashram had assets worth around $5.6 million, plus three properties, which have not been valued.

The royal commission has now concluded its public hearings into the ashram.