Child sex abuse inquiry: Victim Graham Rundle tells Salvation Army to do right thing by victims

By Candice Marcus
ABC News
October 6, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/child-sex-abuse-victim-graham-rundle-chastises-salvation-army/6831132

A commission has heard sexual abuse was widespread at the Salvation Army's Eden Park Boys' Home in South Australia.

Graham Rundle has told a commission of sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a Salvation Army employee.

Graham Rundle (left) and other boys from the Eden Park Boys Home in South Australia on a trip to the Coorong.

A victim of a Salvation Army paedophile has made an impassioned plea for change while giving evidence at an inquiry, asking the organisation to do the right thing by all victims.

Graham Rundle, now 63, was repeatedly raped and sexually abused at the Eden Park Boys' Home in South Australia as a child in the 1960s.

He has told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about his experiences and what he wanted to come out of the hearing.

At the end of his evidence, Mr Rundle directed his comments directly at Commissioner Floyd Tidd, the current Territorial Commander of the Salvation Army's Southern Territory.

"This is a chance for Mr Tidd [to] not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk; you have the power to change it," he said.

"You know, do the right thing at last to all the victims, then we can start to heal and so can the Salvation Army. We deserve nothing less."

There was loud applause from the public gallery as Mr Rundle finished his evidence.

He said victims needed ongoing support, and no amount of compensation could ever make up for the loss of a childhood.

He said the system for reporting child sexual abuse should be made easier for all victims.

"The thing that made it worse for me after my abuse and knocked me about is that when I first approached the Salvation Army, they treated me very badly," he told the commission.

"They always refused to provide me with my records, tried to stop me at every avenue by trying it get rid of me, dragged out my case, and made it harder for me overall when all I was doing was just telling the truth.

"I never received a phone call or letter from anyone from the Salvation Army to apologise; everything was done through their lawyers. I believe their actions would have made it a lot harder for other victims too.

"There should be a heavier burden on institutions like the Salvation Army, who have such a history of victims being abused, to not just offer a one-off sum, but to be accountable for ongoing costs - you know, such as dental, medical, accommodation and counselling."

Mr Rundle told the commission of the repeated sexual abuse he endured at the hands of older boys and Salvation Army officer William John Keith Ellis, who was sentenced to 16 years' jail in 2009.

He said when his father first dropped him off at the home after remarrying, when Mr Rundle was seven, he was looking forward to a "great holiday".

He told the commission that Ellis was nasty to him from day one, and within two months of being at the home he was sexually abused.

"The third time after I had been sexually assaulted at Eden Park, again by the first older boy, I went to tell Ellis about it because I was bleeding badly after several days," he said.

"He told me not to 'cause any more trouble'.

"On that occasion Ellis took me to the staff room. He sat me down and came up behind me and forced me to show him what happened."

Mr Rundle said Ellis then sexually assaulted him.

"I was so young, I didn't know what to do or what was happening," he said.

Mr Rundle described ongoing abuse, which went on until he ran away from the home at the age of 16.

He said whenever he tried to complain about what was happening he would be punished and was often beaten after being raped.

"I was sexually assaulted by Ellis at all times of the day," Mr Rundle said.

"After Ellis had intercourse with me, he would blame me. Sometimes he would hit me.

"I remember at his house once he blamed the devil.

"It was always my fault, never his fault."

He described being bashed and forced to spend multiple nights in a row in a small "lockup" that was used for punishment.

"The lockup was six foot by four foot, blue stone and the walls were lined," he said.

"There was no light, and no windows or power in there, just a little vent. It had a concrete floor and an old horse hair mattress to sleep."

Mr Rundle said he never told anyone about what happened to him until he was in his 40s.

"No one from the Salvation Army ever spoke to me or did anything about the abuse I went through.

"After Ellis started sexually abusing me, I felt it was pointless to tell anyone and I also felt very hopeless and ashamed, so I kept it to myself."

Mr Rundle also described the stress he endured during the criminal proceedings and the long-running civil claim for compensation, which ended in a confidential settlement in 2010.

He recalled the moment Ellis was found guilty of 13 child sex offences in 2009.

"I recall that as the word guilty was read out 13 times, Ellis just stared his banshee scream and thrashing his feet. I have heard some horrible screams in my life but this was horrendous.

"I thought 'you bastard', now you know what it's like.

"I felt it was worth all the years I spent and everything I had been through to see him behind bars."

Mr Rundle described the ongoing nightmares and trauma he endured.

"Not one week in my life has gone by without being affected with what happened to me," he said.

"I have missed out on many things in life because of the abuse I suffered at Eden Park. It's a full time effort just to keep going."

Mr Rundle said he had previously attempted suicide, and wanted the Salvation Army to know what the abuse had done to the victims.

"They say with death comes peace. It's sad that I will have to die with the memories of the past that I have now, and that is also, unfortunately, when the nightmares will finally end."