AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Antonette Collins
The Salvation Army did not protect young boys from being abused while in its care from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has found.
Last year the commission heard harrowing details and accounts from victims of child sexual abuse that occurred in four boys’ homes run by the Salvation Army in NSW and Queensland.
In a report released on Tuesday, the commission found that the boys who reported abuse were punished, disbelieved and accused of lying.
“Former residents told us of brutal sexual abuse at the hands of Salvation Army officers, at times accompanied by extreme physical punishment,” the report said.
The commissioners also found the Salvation Army’s policies and procedures did not enable the prevention or detection of child abuse, and that it failed to provide appropriately trained staff to ensure child safety.
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