EXCLUSIVE: 'That man was hand-picked by God!' ...

By Emily Crane
Daily Mail
July 8, 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3152955/What-six-year-old-girl-told-Nun-tried-report-sexual-abuse-priest-CONFESSION.html

Gina Swannell, 56, claims she was abused several times over six months by Father Charles Holdsworth when she was a student at St Francis Xavier's boarding school at Urana, in south-west NSW, in 1966

Gina (far right) was placed into St Francis Xavier with her elder sister Kerrie (middle) in 1966 when their mother Patricia (left) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and their father John (back) was working in the air force

The 55-year-old, pictured campaign for a royal commission in 2009, is now suing the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga, which oversees the church, and the Presentation Sisters who ran the school at the time

The alleged abuse started when Gina, who was only six, was required to attend confession with Fr Holdsworth to prepare for her First Holy Communion, which he signed her certificate for in August 1967

Gina (right) and her sister Kerrie (left), who is undergoing breast cancer treatment, were both allegedly sexually abused by Fr Holdsworthy during their time at St Francis Xavier from 1966 to 1967

Fr Holdsworth died when Gina was nine years old after his car crashed into a tree at Lockhart in November 1969. Gina says while her extended family cried when they heard the news, she was relieved

EXCLUSIVE: 'That man was hand-picked by God!' What a six-year-old girl was told by a nun when she tried to report sexual abuse by a priest during CONFESSION

A woman who allegedly suffered horrific sexual abuse by a Catholic priest when she was just six years old has finally broken her silence after almost 50 years.

Gina Swannell claims she was abused several times over a six month period by Father Charles Holdsworth when she was a student at St Francis Xavier's boarding school at Urana, in south-west NSW, in 1966.

For decades she kept the abuse secret as her life spiraled out of control, but now the 55-year-old is suing the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga, which oversees the church, and the Presentation Sisters who ran the school at the time.

Ms Swannell was placed into the St Francis Xavier boarding school with her elder sister Kerrie in 1966 when their mother Patricia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and told she had six months to live.

The alleged abuse started shortly after when Ms Swannell, who was only six years old at the time, was required to attend confession with Fr Holdsworth to prepare for her First Holy Communion.

'I was told to go into the confessional box and tell him the things I had done wrong,' Ms Swannell told Daily Mail Australia.

Fr Holdsworth was an acquaintance of Ms Swannell's extended family and assisted the church by taking confession from the students from 1966 to 1969.

'I knew him and he knew my family so I felt safe with him. He knew that my mother was sick and the circumstances surrounding my family situation,' she said.

The first instance of abuse, as detailed in Ms Swannell's statement of claim filed in the NSW Supreme Court, occurred in 1966 when Fr Holdsworth had her sit on his knee and he immediately started touching her 'on her private parts'.

The priest, who spoke Latin while he was doing it, allegedly put one of his fingers into her vagina and only stopped when she cried out in pain.  

'I went straight to the head nun, Mother Elizabeth, and told her. She bent down on her haunches and said "That man is hand-picked by God. If you do not stop this talk there will be no communion for you",' Ms Swannell said.

'Mother Elizabeth then marched me to the part where the nuns lived... I was terrified. She then got a pair of big silver scissors and cut my (waist-long) hair to my earlobes.

'I started to cry and was inconsolable when I went back to the dormitory. I was totally devastated... everyone thought I had my hair cut off because I had done something wrong.'

Ms Swannell claims she was abused again during another confession that same year when Fr Holdsworth invited her to sit on his knee but she refused.

He allegedly pushed his black cassock aside and used her hand to masturbate himself until she felt 'gooey stuff'.

'Immediately following the abuse I went out the side door of the church and to the school playground. I sat on the swing with the bar and two rings which we used to hang from. I deliberately let go and dropped myself onto my head,' Ms Swannell said.

'I hoped that I would somehow no longer remember what had occurred.'

Fr Holdsworth continued the alleged abuse about eight more times over a period of four to six months by masturbating himself with Ms Swannell's hand.

Ms Swannell says she went from being a happy, bright and extroverted child to someone who was regularly flogged by the nuns for misbehaving.

The alleged abuse stopped after Ms Swannell made her Holy Communion on August 13, 1967. It was administered by Fr Holdsworth whose signature is present on her certificate.

Fr Holdsworth died when Ms Swannell was nine years old after his car crashed into a tree at Lockhart in November 1969.

Ms Swannell and her sister Kerrie were eventually removed from the school after their father John, who worked in the Australian Air Force, visited and she begged him to take them home.

She dropped out of school when she was 14 and started self-medicating with marijuana and other drugs. She attempted suicide at age 15 by overdosing and regularly self-harmed.

Ms Swannell, who now works as a carer and is on a disability pension, says she has suffered ongoing post traumatic stress, anxiety and severe depression as a result of the alleged abuse she endured as a child.

She also said despite the trauma, Ms Swannell decided to keep the abuse secret for several decades out of fear her parents and family would be hurt.

'I had to wait for my parents to die. My dad would have never forgiven himself for sending me there,' she said.

Ms Swannell first spoke of her ordeal when former Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse - something she had been rigorously campaigning for and later gave evidence at.

She told her two sisters only for Kerrie to shockingly reveal claims she had faced the same abuse at the hands of Fr Holdsworth.

'Me and my sister never talked about Urana. We're as thick as thieves but we never talked about that. We both held onto this for a very long time,' Ms Swannell said.

Kerrie, who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, is also taking legal action against the Presentation Sisters.

'Our lives took a different turn. She has had a successful marriage and raised beautiful kids. That was all taken off the table for me. I've lead the loneliest existence, it took everything from me. I can't trust anyone,' she said.

Ms Swannell, a single mother to a teenage boy, continues to see a psychiatrist every fortnight because of the alleged abused she experienced as a child.

She is seeking compensation for damages and costs, as well as future out-of-pocket expenses as she continues her treatment.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, Gerard Hanna, said he could not comment on the allegations at this stage until details of the case could be clarified.  

The case will go before the NSW Supreme Court on October 16.