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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A former Marylands
schoolboy claims he was told "this is what Catholics do" while he
was sexually abused by a Catholic brother. The boy, now a
middle-aged man, told the High Court in Christchurch the abuse happened only
once, when dorm master Brother Bernard Kevin McGrath lay on top of him in bed
and moved up and down. McGrath, 58, denies 53
charges of sodomy and indecency involving 16 boys at the boarding school for
troubled youths on the outskirts of Christchurch in the mid 1970s. The jury was told
McGrath had been jailed before for sexually abusing boys and it was accepted
that Marylands boys were sexually abused by Catholic brothers from the St
John of God order. McGrath claims he has already admitted the full extent of
his offending. The former schoolboy
yesterday spoke with a slurred voice and had trouble walking because of the
injuries he sustained in a 1987 assault . He told the court
yesterday he had been asleep in his bed when he was woken by McGrath. "I had my bed
covers on me and he got on top of me for five minutes to half an hour and up
and down, up and down, up and down," he said. "He said `this is
what Catholics do. It's all right'. "He was supposed
to be a brother – supposed to be – but as far as I'm concerned he wasn't. He
was supposed to keep an eye on the kids but after what he did to me ... it
makes no sense." McGrath was positioned
in a way that their groins were rubbing against each other through the
bedclothes. Prosecutor Chris Lange
asked if he had told anyone about the incident. The man replied:
"No, because he said that's what Catholics do and it's all right. I
didn't say anything about it because I was terrified." He said he told nobody
about what happened until he saw television coverage of McGrath's child
molesting charges from the 1990s. He made a complaint to Christchurch police
but nothing happened. Raoul Neave, for
McGrath, said the police had no record of a complaint being made, but the man
insisted it was true. Neave: "You'd seen
the St John of God order was offering money and you'd seen that it was
Brother McGrath who was one of the people they were looking into." He agreed. Neave: "The problems
you've got today relate to an incident in 1987 when you were very savagely
beaten up. You were left very seriously injured by that attack – in fact,
you're probably lucky to be here." The man replied:
"Absolutely. Eight times I died and it left me with severe paralysis on
my right-hand side." "And some brain
damage as well?" "Yes." Neave: "This
person (who abused touched you), are you sure it was Brother McGrath?" The man replied:
"Yes. He's sitting right behind you. Brother Bernard McGrath." The trial continues
today. |
