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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A Presbyterian group at
the centre of sex abuse allegations against orphanage boss Wally Lake tried
to delve into victims' personal lives by accessing their police records and
psychiatric histories. Presbyterian Support
Services, which ran the Berhampore Children's Home where at least 14 people
say Lake sexually attacked them as children, appeared to be more interested
in investigating the victims, their lawyer said. Lake, the son of a
policeman, died in November aged 84 – just as police were to charge him with
multiple sex offences after the victims outlined sexual abuse while child
residents at the home Lake headed from 1959 till 1985. Police executed a
search warrant at Presbyterian Support to investigate records. Lake was awarded an OBE
for social services in 1986, was a justice of the peace, and senior member of
the Presbyterian Church for more than 50 years. The Privacy
Commissioner's office has ordered Presbyterian Support to release tape
recordings of a meeting it held with lead complainant Kathleen Batchelor
2-1/2 years ago. It is understood the
organisation taped the September 2002 meeting – but later denied her a copy –
and privacy authorities have ordered in the past month the release of the tape
after a formal complaint. Presbyterian Support is
now refusing to deal with the 14 victims and any other complainant who hires
a lawyer or talks to media. The Presbyterian Church
says it is a separate legal entity to its sister organisation – but has confirmed
Church representatives knew about the abuse claims in 2001, attended meetings
with Ms Batchelor, and offered complainants "spiritual guidance". Lawyer Gordon Paine,
who acts for 13 victims, said yesterday that Presbyterian Support had tried
to "strip the victims bare", asking them to sign waivers granting
access to their police records and medical and psychiatric files. The
complainants refused. "Presbyterian
Support wasn't interested in investigating the allegations, just
investigating the claimants," Mr Paine said. The 13 victims could sue
for compensation. Presbyterian Support
spokesman and former chairman Trevor Roberts said tapes of the meeting with
Ms Batchelor were not handed over because they raised privacy issues for
other people. "In any event, Ms Batchelor made her own tape
recording," he said. Presbyterian Support
had asked for access to police and psychiatric records to help verify
complainants' claims, Mr Roberts said. After Lake's death, the
issue was one of civil liability and Presbyterian Support would not make any
agreements on the basis of unsupported allegations, he said. |
