Probe Widens Into Child Abuse By Irish Catholic Brothers

Probe Widens Into Child Abuse
By Irish Catholic Brothers
Dublin, - Inquiries into abuse by Roman Catholic clerics of school and orphanage pupils in Ireland has developed into a huge probe of allegations dating back to the 1930s and involving hundreds of people over decades.
Over 50 former and serving members of a religious order are being investigated for complaints against them of sexual and physical abuse of the young persons in their care, a police spokesman said.
The enquiry into the running of a now-closed Dublin school by the Christian Brothers has mushroomed into a general investigation of abuse involving children in state-funded, religious-run schools and orphanages.
So far, over 200 former pupils of the Artane School, which closed in 1969, have made complaints involving serious allegations of abuse.
Three men -- a serving brother, a retired brother and a former brother who left the order -- have been arrested and questioned, and a decision regarding charges is expected soon.
The Christians Brothers and several other Roman Catholic orders involved in running similar schools have issued apologies to former pupils, and a number of elderly priests and monks have already been jailed as a result of police investigations of other institutions and schools.
Artane was one of the biggest of these institutions, and complaints are being made from pupils now living in Britain, Canada, America and Australia.
Some of the allegations date back to the 1930s and it is understood that over 20 Christian Brothers now dead have been named in complaints.
A team of detectives is involved full time in the investigation and witnesses are being flown in from abroad to give statements.
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has made an unprecedented apology for the country's "collective failure to intervene, to detect their pain, to come to their rescue.
"Too many of our children were denied love, care and security.
"Abuse ruined their childhoods and has been an ever-present part of their adult lives, reminding them of a time when they were helpless.
"I want to say to them that we believe that they were gravely wronged and that we must do all we can to overcome the lasting effects of their ordeals."
High Court judge Mary Laffoy has been appointed to head a three-member commission which will serve as a form of "truth tribunal".
Dr Imelda Ryan, director of a child sex abuse clinic attached to a Dublin hospital and Bob Lewis, a British social services expert, will also serve on the commission, which is due to begin hearings later this year.
The commission is expected to have wide-ranging powers to compel witnesses to attend and subpoena documents.
The government is setting up its own counselling service to help traumatised victims.
It is also examining legal changes which would relax the present "lapse of time" restrictions on compensation claims. These only allow victims to lodge court claims for a three-year period after they reach 18.
May 25, 1999
Return to: World of Madness

Click Here to Visit our Sponsor