Royal Commission into Child Abuse begins hearings in Adelaide to examine Salvation Army homes, by Andrew Dowdell, Australian (October 6, 2015)

Royal Commission into Child Abuse begins hearings in Adelaide to examine Salvation Army homes

CHILD sex abuse victims at Salvation Army homes were physically beaten or further sexually abused if they reported crimes against them, the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse has heard.

Opening the 33rd public hearing of the national commission in Adelaide, counsel assisting Sophie David SC, said the hearing would examine abuse at four Salvation Army homes in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia between 1940 and 1980.

Three former residents of Eden Park Boys’ Home in the Adelaide Hills will tell the commission of years of abuse they suffered at the hands of Salvation Army members including Sergeant William John Keith Ellis.

Ms David said Eden Park employees were reported as far back as 1940, when a staff member was jailed for indecent conduct against three boys.

Despite subsequent allegations in the 1950s and 1960s, Eden Park was allowed to continue to house wards of the state, mainly young boys.

“We expect the survivor evidence and documentary evidence to show that child sexual abuse was widespread, unchecked and flourished over a long period of time at the Salvation Army institutions,” Ms David said.

Abuse survivor Graham Rundle, who won a civil case against the Salvation Army over abuse he suffered at Eden Park, today told the commission he was first taken to the home as a seven-year old.

Mr Rundle, 63, said his father had told him he was going to Eden Park for a holiday with other boys.

“As a child I thought this was great, my great holiday was about to start,” he said.

He told the commission he recalled his father speaking to William Ellis briefly before leaving him alone.

“My father didn’t even really wait to say goodbye, he just spoke to Ellis, tapped me on the head and left,” he said.

Mr Rundle said Ellis was “nasty from day one” and that he was first raped when he was eight by another resident who was aged about 15 or 16.

He told the commission he was raped and abused by up to eight other boys before he eventually reported the abuse to Ellis.

But instead of helping the terrified boy, Ellis also began to sexually abuse him.

Mr Rundle outlined a horrific list of incidents of abuse, saying he believed Ellis had carried out more than 100 acts of sexual abuse against him.

He said much of the abuse would take place when Ellis would corner him in the laundry or boiler room.

“He would pull me close to him from behind and would grunt. I still have nightmares about the sound that he made,” Mr Rundle said.

Ellis — who is serving a 16-year prison term for the abuse of four boys — would blame Mr Rundle for the abuse he had inflicted.

“He would say ‘you shouldn’t have led me on, there was a devil inside of me’ he would say,” Mr Rundle said.

Mr Rundle said he never spoke of the abuse until after 2000, when he went back to Eden Park in an effort to exorcise the mental demons he was afflicted with.

“It didn’t work out like that — I drove up the driveway and ‘boom’ — I was back there, a little kid trapped,” he said.

Mr Rundle said he was forced to sell all his possessions during a lengthy civil case against the Salvation Army and said he hoped the organisation would treat future victims with more dignity.

He recalled the moment that Ellis was found guilty in the Supreme Court of all charges in 2009.

“As the word guilty was read 13 times, Ellis just started his banshee scream and was stomping his feet, refusing to leave the dock,” he said.

Mr Rundle said he believed the Salvation Army owed victims more than a lump sum cash settlement, arguing the organisation should provide ongoing counselling and health care.

He said authorities of the time had not shown enough diligence in investigating claims of abuse.

“The Salvation Army was left to answer only to themselves and this abuse was allowed to continue,” Mr Rundle said.

The commission also heard from another Eden Park abuse survivor, Steven Grant, who spoke of routine beatings at the hands of staff members.

While describing one staff member as a “good bloke”, Mr Grant said most others were physically or sexually abusive towards the residents.

Mr Grant said one staff member would conduct “punishment nights”, in which he would act as a judge and declare children guilty of alleged misdemeanours.

Children found guilty were punished by being hit with a strap, having their head shaved or being sent to a tiny, dark building known as ‘the lockup’.

Mr Grant claimed he was sexually abused by a staff member who took him to live in Victoria, however a subsequent trial saw the man convicted of common assault but acquitted of child sex charges.

He told the commission he was constantly hoping his father would return to take him and his brother home.

“I was always crying for my Dad because Eden Park was a horrible place and I didn’t want to be there,” Mr Grant said.

Mr Grant said the Salvation Army had obstructed a civil claim for compensation and that he signed a deed of settlement that precluded him from any further assistance or compensation.

“I would not wish the experience of dealing with the Salvation Army on anyone,” he said.

Ms David said Mr Rundle and other victims had not come forward about the abuse until decades later.

“Mr Rundle did not report the abuse to anyone at the time, as he felt it was pointless to do so and that he would not be believed by anyone,” Ms David said.

“A number of the former residents of the institutions will give evidence that they did not tell anyone ... because they were fearful that they might be physically punished or they thought they would not be believed.”